But that doesn’t mean I think it’s anything other than asinine - totally backwards thinking - to force little kids to watch movies in a language they don’t speak. This incredibly stupid act MADE SENSE to someone in some position of authority.

And ateacher, I, too, have spent a good part of my adult life overseas, although my experiences have been far more positive than what you describe. My children have been along on some of these travels. It has helped then to get out of the limited Manassas cultural mindset to remember that there is a much wider world outside of South and Central America, and so much more to learn.

And Dolph, I agree with you that everyone to an extent probably is somewhat “racist” in the way that you describe. It is only human to want to be among your own kind with people who share your language and your values. No one will ever succeed at engineering that out of our society.

I enjoyed reading about the various places you have lived. I was sorry when you had to stop at boring old GMU. I don’t know what it is like to be a minority. My minority experiences have been very short lived. I do think that women, while not a minority, throughout history have had experiences where they were not granted equal rights.

As for racist….I actually think everyone in the world is somewhat racist. Some folks a lot, some folks just a little.

It is the human condition. I rarely use the word. It is over worked, over used, and diminishes real racism when it raises its ugly head. It is like the little boy who cried wolf.

Furthermore, several of my neighbor youngsters have recently graduated from both UV and VTech. They were good students but not exactly geniuses. Neither were they children of illegals!

The is one occurance that you heard about. How many others have their been that you have heard about. I congratulate your neighbors youngsters on graduating from UV and VTech. These are Public schools and should be for citizens of THIS country, NOT ILLEGAL ALIENS (YES THE CHILDREN OF ILLEGALS UNLESS THEY WERE BORN IN THIS COUNTRY ARE ILLEGAL.)

Out kids are in overcrowded classrooms with overtaxed teachers because our Board of Supervisors, School Board, and Planning Commission have failed in the past to adequately control growth and plan for the additional resources required to support that growth. We’d rather have a “one slice of pizza” tax increase than schools that adequately meet the needs of our students. We are not at a competitive disadvantage because we have federally-mandated ESOL programs. We are at a disadvantage because we have short-sighted leadership.

As for “embrace third-world culture during valuable instructional time”. They do not have to embrace the culture; they LEARN about it.

It wouldn’t surprise me if those who are against most everything multi-cultural would also get uptight if Arabic and Farsi were offered in the schools.

As for Spanish, it is an important language considering how many countries speak it; all of So. and Central America, except Brazil, plus Spain. Learning a language, any language, is not a waste of time. Learning about other cultures, any culture, is broadening and leads to more understanding between people. / Lastly - little kids don’t give a fig about wether their pals are legal or illegal! That is, unless their parents tell them that there’s a difference. Of course, if you homeschool you won’t have to worry about your little John or Jane being contaminated by rubbing elbows with “those people”.

Furthermore, several of my neighbor youngsters have recently graduated from both UV and VTech. They were good students but not exactly geniuses. Neither were they children of illegals!

It’s bad enough that the kids have to contend with the overcrowded classrooms and overtaxed teachers, gang activity and boorish behaviors from the children of our resident illegal immigrants, but it’s outrageous to me that they also have to embrace third-world culture during valuable instructional time. I have great admiration for people who are able to homeschool their children and don’t have to put up with any of this nonsense.

Try getting your kids into one of them even with hight gpa’s (unless you are the child of an illegal and get the Washcompost to do a story about your plight.

Save yourself a trip to DC. You can see that mask at the COM Christmas parade.

I don’t know whether the reason they showed a movie in Spanish was to make the Spanish speaking ones feel good about themselves or not. Personally, I don’t think young kids should have movies in school unless it’s something educational where pictures help teachers get ideas through to the students.

I DO believe in singing songs fr different countries (you probably sang “Frere Jaques” at some time in your early years), learning folk dances and eating ethnic foods.

Furthermore, I think it’s good for the kids to get away from their routine once in a while and experience something different than the same old, same old.

If you want to learn some interesting facts about Mexican culture, there is a good exhibit at the Museum of Natural History now that I recommend. The diversity of Mexico is amazing. I even saw a devil mask on display there from central Mexico.

“Now you kids will all watch a movie most of you don’t understand (the words to) because it will make the Spanish-speaking ones feel good about themselves”. Yeah, that’s great.

As far as the school board goes, we *don’t* have to put up with this. The school board is funded by US, the taxpayers. The problem is, the majority of us *don’t* take an active interest in what the board is up to and how they are spending taxpayer’s money.

Quite frankly, like-minded citizens need to get together and demand a dismantling of this propaganda department. We don’t need a diversity coordinator, etc. We need to focus on the fundamentals and making sure our kids are literate and numerate and have the skills needed to function in an ever increasing tech age.

We have no one but ourselves to blame if we don’t draw a line and fight the onward march of “progressivism” in our schools. Our kids are paying the price.

CONVA - You certainly aren’t helping the situation one bit. It’s evident you brought up elitist kids who look down on the hoi-polloi and who, in turn, are bringing up another generation of elitists. It’s a shame they are not getting language studies. And if your private schools don’t believe in educating their students about the other continents, then I’d say they’re failing big time. What’s the famous poem “No man is an island …”

“When they get out of high school they will go to a private college in lieu of a damn public college…” Do you realize how that sounds? Probably not. What percentage of the population has enough money to do what you and your children are doing? Do you feel lucky? Don’t you think every parent would like to have good schools?

Public college = U of Virginia, Virginia Tech, William and Mary, etc. etc. Not good enough for your progeny?

No Superintendent teaches a child to read or add and subtract or anything else it is the teachers who make the difference. Long after Walts is gone and I doubt he will last that long, the teacher will be here doing the job that needs to be done.