Mandatory Arabic Classes Coming To Mansfield

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Great idea.....when that grant runs out, make Spanish mandatory.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I'm fluent in Arabic.

Should I apply for a job at the CIA?

If you're not a terrorist, sure........CIA or FBI, DIA, NSA.....the alphabet soup, yeah. 

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

CARL, what do you think about this?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

How much more effective would our intelligence, foreign policy, and defense capabilities be with American native Arabic speakers? Perhaps we'd be more on top of what's going on in Egypt. Don't you agree?

What does that have to do with forcing children to learn Arabic without consent from their parents - as part of a plan that seems to have not been made subject to public comment until now, after the grant has been received and plans put into motion?

They're forced to learn math without their parents consent, cinyc.  Would you complain if it was French or Spanish, and not Arabic?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Wait until the parents find out who invented algebra.

Yeah, those pricks.......I got A's but it sucked.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Math is not a foreign language.  In this country, most students get to choose which language other than English they want to learn.

My problem is not with the school teaching Arabic, but forcing children to take it and not notifying parents and the electorate until it is already a done deal.

Math is not a foregin language, but it's a subject FORCED UPON students without consent.  So is physical education and many other things.  This isn't college where you pick and choose, and even there, some things are mandatory.

IMO, you wouldn't be upset if it was Spanish or French.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Math is not a foreign language.  In this country, most students get to choose which language other than English they want to learn.

My problem is not with the school teaching Arabic, but forcing children to take it and not notifying parents and the electorate until it is already a done deal.

Math is not a foreign language, but it's a subject FORCED UPON students without consent.  So is physical education and many other things.  This isn't college where you pick and choose, and even there, some things are mandatory!111
IMO, you wouldn't be upset if it was Spanish or French.

I forget where, but there was a district where a few years ago one parent was making a fuss about Spanish classes. OMGZ.. it's mandatory.

Seriously, this is an emotional issue not a logical one.  If the schools mandated 1 computer class funded by IBM no one would blink an eye.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Chinese might be the best mandatory language.......

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Math is not a foreign language.  In this country, most students get to choose which language other than English they want to learn.

My problem is not with the school teaching Arabic, but forcing children to take it and not notifying parents and the electorate until it is already a done deal.

Math is not a foregin language, but it's a subject FORCED UPON students without consent.  So is physical education and many other things.  This isn't college where you pick and choose, and even there, some things are mandatory.

IMO, you wouldn't be upset if it was Spanish or French.

Nobody objects to math being taught in the schools - it is fairly well-known ahead of time that schools teach math, and for good reason - you need basic math skills to live.  But you do not need to speak Arabic or Spanish or French or whatever to live in the United States. 

I am not upset about anything.  I don't live in Mansfield, Texas.  If I did, I'd be upset that the educrats wanted to force a mandatory curriculum change without public notice or consent.  As I said, we have local school boards for a reason. 

Many people here would be extremely upset if a class in Spanish language and culture, including teaching about Catholicism, suddenly became a mandatory part of the curriculum without much prior notice.  The educrats claimed teaching Islam was not going to be part of the mandatory Arabic module, but after the poor job they did in getting consent to teach the class in the first place, I'm not sure I'd believe them.

Yes, making students understand other cultures is something to be frowned upon.  So if the local school board approves it, you're cool with it, because school boards approve curriculum changes all the time?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

...  In this country, most students get to choose which language other than English they want to learn.

Really?  What country do you live in?  Here in America, kids generally learn the language the school district decides.  My kid is learning Spanish, just like I had to.  No choice.  

Cinyc doesn't like it because it's Arabic and might include "culture"  OMG NOEZ.......he hasn't said anything to change my opinion on that.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I'm not sure why you're personally attacking me.  I have zero problem with Arabic - or any other language - being taught in public schools.  I do have a problem with it being mandatory without any parental input or opt out.

Do you have a problem w/ any subject being mandatory? If no, why such an exception for Arabic (or a foreign language, as the case might be)?

This isn't math or English.  Assuming staffing is available, students and/or parents should be able to choose what (if any) second language to learn without some districtwide mandate from some bureaucrat on high.  For some students, learning proper Spanish might make more sense to learn, especially in a state like Texas - or French, or Chinese or Arabic or Latin or two of those or more or even none at all.

I'm not trying to personally attack you, I think you're a good guy, but dude, c'mon....you said earlier boards should decide what's mandatory.....but you didn't answer my question, which was - If the School Board said Arabic will be mandatory, is that ok?   I'm attacking your position, which seems to be anti-arabic.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

You are a moderator here.  You should not be accusing people of being a racist.  Quite frankly, I'm sick of these personal attacks levied against anyone who doesn't follow the politically correct Atlasian views on social issues.

I'll assume I'm one of the attackers although that wasn't the plan.  My response was because I thought you were being coy and not simply saying you oppose Arabic teaching (which if you did believe it and would have said that we could have disagreed and moved on).  That was the impression I got, so I was trying to get either confirmation or a denial.  I don't think I got either. 

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Your rational basis for opting out of learning English or math is what, exactly?  

It is exactly the same as your "rational basis" for opting out of any other language: I don't see any (except, possibly, xenophobia, in your case).

I guess that Spanish is arguably a more relevant language to learn than Arabic, since it's more widely spoken in the US doesn't count.  Or that I don't expect to go to a liberal arts college, so I'd be better off taking an occupational education class instead of any language doesn't count.

My supposed xenophobia is obviously the answer.   Because wanting more choice isn't politically correct, and anyone who opposes the education bureaucrats one-size-fits-all agenda is a racist.

Come on Cynic. Would you or the vast majority of parents who railed against this have been remotely as upset if the language chosen for mandatory instruction was, say, German? Or French?

He didn't answer that question when I posed it.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

This thread reminded me of something we used to do in school when I was a kid. Every May, as part of a larger citywide festival, Memphis honors one country. In elementary school, we would study that country, learn a few words in the native langauge, learn about their culture etc. One year it was Kenya, one year France, etc. We weren't learning to be Kenyans. We learned about Kenya. Nothing terribly intensive, but everybody agreed that it was a good idea to give kids a taste of life somewhere else. Yes, it was "mandatory," but it wasn't ever controversial. Curriculum doesn't always offer a million choices. I don't see what the fuss is all about, and I can't for the life of me figure out why Conservatives try so hard to portray themselves as victims.

Multiculturalism begain creeping into schools years ago?  OH NOEZ!!!11!!

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Is this thread worth reading Gramps?  Just asking. 

No, it died long ago, Torie