TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — As Rodrigo Gutierrez picked up his daughters from school, he asked them how their days went in both English and Spanish.
Two are students at Davis Bilingual Elementary Magnet School and one is in a dual language program at a local middle school.
As an immigrant from both South and Central America, Gutierrez was in a language program himself.
“Dual language model is a better way of getting people to learn from each other and learn together and learn in contact so that everybody is learning and it’s not just that one kid already knows English and the others need to learn English,” Gutierrez said.
He’s hoping that just like himself, his daughters become proficient in both English and Spanish by learning together with other students.
“Our kids could really benefit from everybody’s experiences, everybody’s languages, everybody’s traditions,” he said.
However, learning in two languages won’t be the standard anymore. The Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said students will start learning only in English, or schools could lose funding.
It’s a law that derives from Proposition 203, which voters approved back in the year 2000.
“Learning any language, at first you really have to be immersed in it,” Horne said.
However, Gutierrez, who works in education said that could affect his children’s education and also teachers.
“I think it’s hurtful to the children but also as educators. It’s taking a tool out of the toolkit,” Gutierrez said.
Horne doesn’t expect this enforcement to affect teachers’ jobs and expects schools to comply because they have in the past.
He said the structured English immersion program is an exception. Two hours can be taught in another language but Horne said the rest has to be in English.
He said students can go back to the dual language program earlier if they are proficient in speaking English.
“Once they test proficient on the oral test, which is the easiest part of what you’re learning and they can function earlier in English, then if their parent signs a waiver, then they can be in the dual language program,” he said.
If they pass the Arizona English Language Learner Assessment, he said students can be in a bilingual or dual language program
“I encourage them to learn academic Spanish then if that’s what they want to do,” he said.
However, Gutierrez is hoping the State does more than encourage students to be in dual language programs. He’s hoping the State puts more money into them.
“In Arizona we really need to invest more in education and do more to drive everybody forward,” he said.
