SANTA MARIA, California -- Should a Spanish-speaking teenager living in the United States study English or Japanese? At first glance, that looks like a no-brainer. Learning Japanese would be interesting, perhaps even useful, but knowing English is essential.
That Spanish-speaking teenager will not be able to get along in the U.S. without knowing English. Based on such clear-cut reasoning, the Los Angeles Unified School District recently decided to require that students have a strong command of English before they are allowed to take foreign language classes. It probably seemed like a simple decision, but it wasn't, and school officials are simply wrong.
To understand why, consider a program that will be particularly hard hit by the school board decision -- the excellent Japanese program at Roosevelt High School, which serves a predominantly Latino population.