Decades of English only, Pennies for Indigenous languages

The US Department of Education recently promoted itself at the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Languages highlighting among other programs funding for immersion programs in native languages. In response to the U.S. Department of education's intervention on their "advances" in indigenous language policy  I submit that it is simply not enough of a change in policy.

Decades of English only, high stakes standards, and drill and kill testing have done exactly what boarding school teachers did with a bar of soap- but more like a cultural lobotomy defended by parents and advocates alike as necessary to ensure "equity" and overcome poor schooling. This type of colonization requires complicity. You join their army, you enroll in their schools- you teach their mandates.

Now $5 million is supposed to do what? 80% of American Indian languages are predicted to become extinct within ten years. 

By contrast, Huffington Post reports, "Last year, the California Arts Council received a one-time $5 million increase in its 2014-15 budget, bringing its total support from the general fund to $6 million. This year, Governor Brown signed a state budget that included a $7.1 million permanent increase in general fund support for the Arts Council, and the Council in turn, has funded more communities throughout the state, and, together with the California Department of Education, helped craft a "Blueprint for Creative Schools," which eventually will be adopted by all California schools."

There are at least two dozen indigenous languages spoken today in Los Angeles county today- probably more including Mayan, Mexican and South American indigenous languages. To this day, the only indigenous language taught for credit or otherwise in a Los Angeles public school is Nahuatl at Anahuacalmecac in Semillas Pueblo.

Our children deserve better. Will you remain committed as a parent to decades of self-determined work toward indigenous language renaissance? Or will the next "expert" who tells you Johny or Xochitl aren't learning English fast enough betray the novelty of your parenting experiment? 

The Costs of English-Only Education http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/11/the-costs-of-english-only-education/413494/