The Impact Immigration Has On Education In Colorado And The Answer To Immigration Reform

I am inspired to write this thanks to an article I just read from this Sunday's Denver post:

Colorado schools, non-English speakers adapt to learning curve

I learned some interesting things in reading this about Colorado's educational systems and demographics, which lead me to believe we need to come together quickly to embrace immigration and improve our local educational institutions in order to meet today's new demographic truths:

• 117,363 students out of 843,000 total in Colorado do not speak English as their first language. That is 14% of all students!
• Some schools, such as Crystal River Elementary, report that approximately 60% of their student body speaks Spanish as their first language.
• Unfortunately, schools do not dedicate the appropriate resources to serve these demographics, resulting very sadly in my ultimate fact according to this article, that only 49% of students that speak English as a Second Language graduate from High School.

So let's look at both sides of the debate:

1.) Make immigration harder like in Alabama, and only support our US born citizens in the educational systems.

2.) Develop programs catering to our new neighbors and redesign the public school systems to better accomodate a diverse population.

People fear what they don't understand, and today we see in the media an increasingly intense debate about immigration reform. Sure, we could make it much harder to come to our country and crack down on illegal immigration, but this simply does not work. As a matter of fact, our economy really needs immigration to thrive. Crystal River Elementary is actually very close to Aspen, a place where you would not guess so many students are not native English speakers. They came with their families to fill manual labor positions like construction that many Americans will not do for the money being offered. So in order for us to continue to pay low prices on products and services, we need people that are willing to do the work for less money.

Who built our railroads? Who built the skyscrapers in New York? And today, who is building our houses? The vast majority you will find are immigrants in search of a better life, willing to do the jobs we won't. My fellow people, the United States is the melting pot of the world, and I guarantee that 99.9% of the people that read this had family that immigrated here within the past 200 years. We are all immigrants!

Why continue to fight this? It is expensive, ineffective, and creates hate. We spend millions of dollars a year on border patrol and deportation, and most of the deportees come right back within a few months. Not to mention, the negative impact this would have on our taxes and benefits programs like social security. Did you know that illegal immigrants, through fake green cards and social security numbers, actually pay taxes and contribute to our welfare programs, and will never be able to benefit from this themselves? If this wasn't such a hidden gem to illegal immigration I would bet our country would very quickly figure out a way to eliminate it, but it is simply too beneficial for us to have this happen the way it does today.

So what I would propose is option 2, and develop programs to help immigrants integrate into our society and redesign our educational systems to meet the quickly changing demographics.

First, we should look at ways to come together as a community and help our new neighbors integrate. There are a few organizations doing this today, like Intercambio de Comunidades in Boulder, that have English classes, integration workshops, and other services geared towards reducing the challenges of moving to a new country. They have been well recognized for their work in the community, with politicians and law enforcement officials siting the positive impact of happier people, less crime, and a more productive society.

Second, we should study the languages and cultures of the folks that are flocking here with cross-cultural communications agencies such as Bolder Languages. Depending on where you live, this could be Latin Americans trying to escape the horrible conditions of the drug war, Africans escaping famine and torture, or expat entrepreneurs investing in new businesses. Most people coming to the US are in pursuit of the American dream and genuinely want to create new things, build businesses, and be happy. As US citizens it is our duty to serve as global ambassadors and help make this happen, so our economy can recover and we can once again thrive as a nation.

Finally, let's think of ways to improve our educational systems to accomodate ESL students. There are many ways we can do this. One would be to offer cross-cultural communication training to the teachers. Another should be to have an immersion program so new comers are fully fluent in English. Most universities require students receive TOEFL certifications before joining as a full time student, so why do we make K-12 students jump right into calculous before knowing what 2+2 means in English?

In conclusion, I encourage you to study the new cultures and embrace them. Stop complaining, don't be scared, and think of how you can be a part of the solution.