Spanish at school translates to suspension-"No problema"

Spanish at school translates to suspension
Controversy caused by Kansas City incident reflects national debate

By T.R. Reid

Updated: 6:36 a.m. ET Dec. 9, 2005
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Most of the time, 16-year-old Zach Rubio converses in clear, unaccented American teen-speak, a form of English in which the three most common words are "like," "whatever" and "totally." But Zach is also fluent in his dad's native language, Spanish -- and that's what got him suspended from school.

"It was, like, totally not in the classroom," the high school junior said, recalling the infraction. "We were in the, like, hall or whatever, on restroom break. This kid I know, he's like, 'Me prestas un dolar?' <'Will you lend me a dollar?'> Well, he asked in Spanish; it just seemed natural to answer that way. So I'm like, 'No problema.' "

But that conversation turned out to be a big problem for the staff at the Endeavor Alternative School, a small public high school in an ethnically mixed blue-collar neighborhood. A teacher who overheard the two boys sent Zach to the office, where Principal Jennifer Watts ordered him to call his father and leave the school.



Since then, the suspension of Zach Rubio has become the talk of the town in both English and Spanish newspapers and radio shows. The school district has officially rescinded his punishment and said that speaking a foreign language is not grounds for suspension. Meanwhile, the Rubio family has retained a lawyer, who says a civil rights lawsuit may be in the offing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10372148/

55% agreed with the suspension. My guess is that they do not teach foreign language at all in Kansas? In my French III classroom, we were allowed to speak nothing but French...guess we all should have been suspended!!

This is outrageous. Kansas needs to be its' own country.

and the rest being English-first/only fascistic bigotted racist shitheads. Hope I didn't give away my bias here. :)

:wtf: Schools are just ridiculous any more. Embarrassing, grate on my nerves disastrous.:wtf: Come mierda! would warrant discipline maybe but borrow a dollar ...not!

teach Spanish in virtually every high school in this country? So I suppose we should suspend them for practicing (and learning). Or perhaps go crashing into the Spanish Class like a SWAT raid and line all the Spansih speaking/learning kids up against a wall in handcuffs and then march them off school property.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Now if the student had been sitting in a classroom refusing to speak English to a teacher in a disruptive manner, it would be different. this seems a clear case of ethnocentrism.

Next we will be supsneding kids for talking about evolution, then we'll be suspending them for having an original thought. F*ck this!

¿Donde está libertad?

Olafr

and why didnt the kid that un dolar get suspended.

kansas, kansas how you open the nations eyes with your experience. a little gratitude for insight with the right for the nation to see.

evolution bad, creationism good
beat up professors that speak out
dont talk spanish.
phelps, need i say more

gosh the couple times i was in kansas dealing iwth hteir schools, i liked them.

after all, the King James Bible is written in English - proof that it is God's offical language, and all others are heathen and infidels

...some of the Repukes in the state Senate were trying to pass an "English Only" law. One of these clowns actually said, on the Senate floor, that his reason for mandating English as the official language of the state was....

"If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for me!"

And no, I couldn't make that shit up if I wanted to. But thank God their stupidity failed.

It's only common sense that anybody living in this country should speak English, just like you should speak Japanese if you live in Tokyo, or French if you live in Paris. But mandating something as "official" isn't neccessary. And the ability to speak fluently in other languages should be seen as an asset. Certainly never as a reason for suspension.

Didn't they used to teach Spanish in high school? Maybe not in KKKansas?

Not
Enough
Information

I live here. I have a good friend who works in this district. Only a small part of the story is being told.

There is a huge thread on this - posted a couple days ago.

Does this mean he's suspended, too?