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Foothills plan for Spanish gaining favor
Tucson, Arizona | Published: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/124721
A proposal to teach Spanish in every elementary grade in the Catalina
Foothills School District is moving along, and authorities say the support
far outweighs the dissent.
The issue has been discussed at all schools and the only thing officials are
waiting for now is governing-board approval, which they hope will come by
the end of the school year.
The board still has questions on where the program's $439,000 will come
from, though. Pending state legislation could mean the district's private
foundation might not have to raise as much money for the curriculum.
"We'll be ready to roll once that decision's made," said Assistant
Superintendent Mary Jo Conery, who is heading a team of educators in
constructing the curriculum.
Conery and Superintendent Mary Kamerzell talked with parents at all four
elementary schools in the district, as well as at the two middle schools and
the high school, as they will be affected in the coming years by the plan.
Staff members and parents who attended had mostly positive comments about
the proposal, Conery said.
But parents who opposed the idea made their voices heard. At a meeting at
Sunrise Drive Elementary in March, for example, some parents believed
physical education and art needed higher priority than learning Spanish,
while others wanted the money to be used to reduce class sizes to under 20
students.
"I don't see the benefit of Spanish over P.E. or art," said Dana Milne, the
mother of two at Sunrise Drive.
Those who support the program said the increasingly global society demands
that students start learning a second language very early.
"We can't be like the stupid Americans anymore and bury our heads in the
sand," said Terry Shapiro, who has two children at Sunrise Drive.
The program, if approved, would make Catalina Foothills the only district in
Tucson to require foreign-language instruction below the high school level.
Presently, Catalina Foothills and Flowing Wells are the only districts to
require at least a year of foreign-language instruction in high school.
The district previously had Spanish instruction in its elementary school but
phased it out for budgetary reasons in 2000.
Catalina Foothills' elementary Spanish program would require school
schedules to shift to allow for the daily 30 minutes of Spanish instruction,
and eight teachers would need to be hired.
Conery said many potential teachers have applied to teach Spanish at the
schools after meeting officials at job fairs.
● Contact reporter Jeff Commings at 573-4191 or at jcommings@azstarnet.com.
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