Charter school of 11,000 students drops foreign language

[eridani]

—what they offer instead may stun many

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/10/1483022/-Charter-school-of-11-000-students-drops-foreign-languages-what-they-offer-instead-will-stun-many

The academy’s not-so-popular CEO and founder Eva Moskowitz spoke at a forum with right-wing conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute back in December of 2014. During an interview, Moskowitz discussed how hard it had been to maneuver her school’s curriculum.

”Something had to go,” Moskowitz said. Turns out that “something” was foreign language classes.

”We can’t do everything... And by the way, Americans don’t tend to do foreign languages very well.”

So, we don’t do languages very well? Could that be, perhaps, because some schools have opted to delete foreign language classes and offer Chess? Such is the case with Moskowitz and her Success Academy network. Don’t get me wrong. Chess is a fine game. And no school can do everything, but I’d bet even Chess players would agree that knowledge of the game on a résumé is not going to land them their next big job. On the other hand, many employers see a foreign language background as a plus. Given the Hispanic/Latino growth in America today, high school and college graduates who can speak Spanish as a second language have a substantial advantage over others jumping into the job market.