In case you missed it, Jeff Sessions had this to say:
“What good does it do to bring in somebody who is illiterate in their own country, has no skills and is going to struggle in our country and not be successful? That is not what a good nation should do and we need to get away from it,” Sessions said, speaking on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.
The school I work at is so diverse that the State of Tennessee has to make new classifications when studying them. Unlike several schools around us that are 95% Caucasian and 5% African American, Asian American, and Latinx or Hispanic, we sit at about 45% Caucasian, 30% African American, 15% Latinx or Hispanic, and 10% Asian, Native American, Eastern European, Arab, Maori, Filipino, etc., etc.
Many of the students who come to our Middle School not only can’t read or speak English, they couldn't read or write in their native languages. And the idea that everyone in Hispanic or Latinx countries speaks either Spanish or Portuguese is off. To talk to some parents, we have to bring in special translators who specialize in certain dialects of Arabian or Mayan. Local dialects from Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ukraine, Romania, etc., have to be found, as well.
We bring these kids in to our school with open arms and the first six months to year after they come, they spend a lot of time in self-contained classrooms to help them learn English and learn to read and write. As the year progresses and the students improve, we ease them into “Regular Ed” classes where they are expected to interact and improve. As they succeed, the less help they get from the ELL teachers, and the more they work with “Reg Ed” Teachers.
I wish I could say that every student finds success at our middle school. The overwhelming majority of those who come to our school illiterate leave our school at the same or even higher levels of reading and math as the native born students. Many come in with a lower than 3rd Grade reading level, but they leave at High School levels. I know that many other schools around us have similar issues and have the same success.
I’ve been teaching long enough now that I get invited to Senior Year Graduations. I can’t tell you how many former students from Africa, South America, and Asia I have had who not only walked across the stage with honors, but also with scholarships to college. Nancy, who came from Guatemala, is now going through a great Liberal Arts College and studying to be a teacher. She wants to help future students the same way we helped her.
I am damned proud of what our school does for these kids, and, more importantly, I am so amazed and proud of these kids.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
— The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus, 1883