Support immersion programs in Montgomery County

BACKGROUND

Montgomery County Public Schools has the distinction of housing the oldest French Immersion program in the nation.  The program, a model for other states, serves about 600 students in the county who receive the MCPS curriculum in the French language.  The program is so successful that each year, both schools turn away hundreds of applicants because places are limited.  This pattern is repeated at schools offering Spanish and Chinese language immersion programs.

Despite such remarkable success and popularity, immersion program resources have been cut back in Montgomery County for four consecutive years.  Programs are now so thinly supported that immersion teachers must spend hours translating Montgomery County teaching materials, in addition to regular teaching responsibilities

Once again immersion programs across the country are slated for new reductions.  A recently published list of proposed reductions for the 2010-2011 MCPS budget would disproportionately impact language immersion programs in the county (*).  In addition to system-wide reductions, immersion programs would lose program teachers and school bus transportation.

The elimination of school busing is of special concern as the immersion programs welcomes students from multiple school boundaries, at a significant distance from the school. Busing cuts unfairly penalize single parent families and those with two working parents, who would not be able to transport their children.  It would also increase neighborhood congestion, like in downtown Silver Spring where a planned Purple Line stop will already make school access more difficult for cars.

With reduced staffing and instructional materials, the quality of our children's education is likely to be further compromised.  Parents are already anecdotally noting drops in reading levels due to prior cuts to immersion reading specialists.  This concerns us because reading is a foundation for students' future learning experiences.

Please support us in our efforts to protect French Immersion programs by signing the petition below.

* (full document available on http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/ under Possible areas for reduction)

PETITION

We, the undersigned, call on the Montgomery County Council to fully fund Superintendent Weast's Recommended FY2011 Operating Budget for Montgomery County Public Schools so as to preserve funding for French immersion programs at Maryvale and Sligo Creek Elementary Schools as well as immersion programs at other county schools, and articulation into middle school immersion and high school language programs.  Specifically, we request that: 

1) Busing for magnet programs continue. If buses are cut, the programs will not be open to all students in the county, only those with parents who can arrange transportation.

2) Funding for on-site program coordinators be maintained at current levels.  Language immersion program coordinators do more than their job title reflects.  Among other things they currently provide stop-gap support to students in need and enable teachers to teach effectively in an environment of limited instructional materials and language resources.

Thank you for maintaining the language immersion programs provided by Montgomery County Public Schools by fully funding the FY2011 MCPS Operating Budget request.