Home |Wed 26 Sep 2007
Feds offer Palo Alto schools $800,000 for new Mandarin immersion program
Posted by News Editor under LanguageBanks Albach of Califonia’s San Jose Mecury News reports:
The federal government is offering the Palo Alto Unified School District nearly $800,000 over three years to fund its recently created Mandarin immersion program.
The grant, which the board of trustees will discuss Tuesday night but take no action on, is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Foreign Language Assistance Program and requires renewal each of the three years.
According to a staff report, the district would receive $197,809 the first year, $279,191 in the second and $283,264 in the third. The district is required to match the grant, dollar to dollar.
“It’s bringing additional money into the district,” Board Member Mandy Lowell said.
But the grant has also prompted some words of caution from Board Member Gail Price. Yes it’s free money, she said, but the district should plan ahead for when the grant is no longer available.
After a long debate over Mandarin immersion, the district board approved the program in a 4-1 vote in June, just weeks before news of the grant came in. The immersion program is set to start in the fall of 2008 in the Ohlone Elementary School. Mandarin I and II are already offered at each of the high schools.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:32 am
This Mandarin program was voted down by the citizens of our community. It was forced upon us by one determined individual who threatened our school district with an expensive Charter School. We could not afford to litigate this.
This Mandarin program has polarized our community and has had a detrimental effect upon many Asians who never wanted to learn Mandarin. Many of the elderly ancestors of the original Chinese immigrants who came to our state are furious about this.
They believe that this is communist led tactic by Beijing through Hanban and The Confucius Institue.
Many countries are now getting suspicious of Beijing and the launching of these Mandarin programs.
Mandarin is not as popular as your site leads people to believe.
I feel that this program will backfire.
China is planting the seed money to start these programs and send unsuspecting school board officals on boondoggle trips to China, in an effort to win their hearts and minds. These people come back brainwashed and Asian struck and feel compelled to start a Mandarin program at their school.
This is nothing more than a typical communist tactic.
Our government will soon review this insidious attempt by China to infiltrate our schools and our children’s minds with communist ideals and propaganda.