Schoolgirl to aliens: Learn our language

Schoolgirl to aliens: Learn our language

Melting pot: 'We're not going to turn America
into a bilingual country to accommodate you'

WorldNetDaily

A Texas schoolgirl has a message for aliens coming into the United
States: Learn our language.

The message comes from Ashleigh Allison, who has insisted on studying
France and its language even though her Grapevine-Colleyville school
district curriculum requires her to take Spanish, according to a
report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

And her mother agrees. "We're not going to turn American into a
bilingual country to accommodate you," she said. "She (Ashleigh) wants
to be the one voice that forces them to learn English."

K.C. McAlpin, a spokesman for ProEnglish, a Virginia-based group that
is trying to preserve English as the common language of the United
States, said there's no opposition to teaching foreign languages.

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"But it would be naïve to think that the country does not face the
growing threat of bilingualism because of the massive influx of mostly
Spanish-speaking immigrants. They're coming in faster than the country
can absorb them," McAlpin said.

In Texas, schools are required to offer "to the extent possible,
languages other than English" for elementary children. Monica Martinez
of the Texas Education Agency said the simple fact is for most,
Spanish is the language of choice.

Grapevine-Colleyville district spokeswoman Megan Overman told the
newspaper that the intent is to provide students the experience that
"prepares them for success in our diverse world" and there's been no
opposition in the past.

But McAlpin said forcing Spanish on students promotes bilingualism and
could cause harm.

"Every place in the world where societies have been divided about
language, there have been conflicts that many times lead to violence
or antagonism that we have so far been able to avoid in this country,"
he told the newspaper. "Why break the successful mold of the melting
pot?"

Rudy Rodriquez, retired from the bilingual education program at the
University of North Texas, said a "bilingual brain" actually has
better function.

But Allison told the Star-Telegram her family isn't anti-immigration:
They're just pro-English.

"This is not saying, you cannot speak your native tongue," she told
the paper. "Grasp your tradition and your culture. But when you are
outside your front door, you must speak English. We have to understand
you."

Allison said her daughter's school now has 54 percent Hispanic
students, up from 13 percent 10 years ago.

She said when Principal Cody Spielmann told her Spanish is required
and there were no other options, she reacted.

"Ashleigh feels the course would be a waste of her time since she has
no aspirations in the future to have a career requiring bilingual
talents," she wrote the principal, "nor does she feel compelled to
accommodate those who live in our country who refuse to learn the
primary and current native tongue of English."

The issue came to a head when the school refused to make any
accommodations, and Allison kept her daughter out of class. She ended
up filing a grievance, and reached an agreement with Deputy Supt. Jim
Chadwell to allow her daughter to study and report on a country of her
choice.

Without a teacher, she hasn't been able to pick up any but the most
common French phrases, the newspaper reported, and Allison still is
seeking a formal policy change.

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