Should Schools Be Teaching Parents English?

Immigrant parents who don’t speak English can’t help their kids achieve. That’s the premise behind a program that’s sending non-English speaking parents into primary schools to learn alongside their children.

Is this another way of helping kids succeed or another burden immigrant parents have put on society?

Thanks to funds from Toyota, the programs in seventy-five primary  schools in the USA are helping kids – and parents – without pulling one cent from the taxpayers. But if the funds weren’t there – and at the moment they can only support so many schools – is it worthwhile for Americans to pay out of pocket to have this program spread?

Ask any teacher, and the answer is a clear yes. Involved parents means better students.

It’s important to note, not all illiterate parents are immigrants. Literacy Volunteers of America estimates there are seven hundred seventy-four million people around the world who are illiterate in their own language. Fourteen percent of Americans are illiterate, and approximately half of American immigrants have poor English skills.

The illiterate cost the country $US225 billion or more a year in non-productivity in the workplace, crime and unemployment. And immigrant parents want to learn English – they want to help their kids. So maybe the schools are the place to nip some of these problems in the bud? Parents have that added incentive to learn. How about giving it to them?

If nothing else, it might help those who think English should be pushed as a national language.

Image: Orange County Education