BY J. LUTHER
BROOKLYN, New York - Workers and others whose children attend schools in the Sunset Park section of this city held a protest October 26 to defend bilingual education. Some 500 people attended the march and rally.
The action was sparked by the remarks of Sisters of the Good Shepherd Mary Paul and Geraldine attacking bilingual courses in New York schools. The two nuns are founders of the Center for Family Life (CFL), which provides religious- oriented services to children with social problems. The center is located in Sunset Park.
"They came up with the idea of teaching bilingualism, which serves no useful purpose at all for children trying to make it in American society," said Mary Paul, in an interview published in the October 8 New York Times magazine. "In Sunset Park, bilingualism is promoted solely to get patronage jobs for Spanish teachers."
These remarks sparked outrage among thousands in Brooklyn, where the proportion of the population whose first language is Spanish is high.
Hundreds of parents with children in at least five public schools, as well as students, teachers, administrators, and other Sunset Park residents took to the streets to protest. They marched from Public School 1 (P.S.1) at 47th St. and 4th Ave. to the offices of CFL at 43rd St.
People carried placards in English and Spanish saying, "Face it you're a racist," "Sisters step down," "Listen, React, we're under attack," and "Ask the Pope about Bilingualism." Music in Spanish was played and speakers talked to the crowd about the history of bilingual education in the community, and the consistent support it has enjoys among the majority.
One woman, speaking in her native Spanish, said, "It is important to human beings for our dignity and morale. When we don't know the native language, we suffer humiliation due to lack of ability to communicate." She said she had been humiliated by some people in this country because she did not speak English well and added that bilingual education has helped her daughter to maintain communication with her Spanish-speaking family.
According to Bilingual Education Coordinator Maria Balducci of P.S.1, the program in her school seeks to make children proficient in the two languages, not to simply assimilate Spanish speakers to an English speaking educational environment.
In an interview with Matilde Torres Maldonado, principal of P.S.1, this reporter learned that bilingual education has a 20-year history in the area. P.S.1, as a result of organizing among immigrant workers in the community, was among the first schools in the nation to seek government funds to start such a program. It was part of a nationwide fight for government funding to schools for pilot projects in bilingual education.
Maldonado said that in 1970-71, when the program was first implemented, the neighborhood was a mostly Puerto Rican working-class community. Now, judging by the flags from more than ten Latin American countries carried at the march, the composition of the neighborhood has shifted to include immigrants from throughout the continent. It remains solidly working class.
Since its inception, Maldonado said, the bilingual program has grown to include all grades, counseling services in both languages, and special resource rooms.
When asked if bilingual education helps immigrants and their families to exercise their democratic rights more effectively, Maldonado replied, "Definitely so." She blamed for the current controversy "anti-immigrant and anti- Hispanic sentiments" and a view promoted by many politicians of "the less fortunate as the cause of our ills."
The Coalition of Concerned Educators, Parents, and Students of Sunset Park, which organized the October 26 protest circulated a petition with three demands. The group demanded the resignation of Mary Paul and Geraldine from the CFL, a retraction of the remarks printed in the New York Times, and a statement by the Catholic Church hierarchy in support of bilingual education.
Feeling the heat, the two nuns signed a letter that was distributed at the rally. In it they claimed that Mary Paul never said that "bilingualism is promoted solely to get patronage jobs for Spanish teachers." They didn't retract the rest of their remarks, however. The letter didn't satisfy most protesters.