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"The Wall Street Journal reports the Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers who have spoken English that deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English." (The Global Report)

 

A superintendent for the Arizona Department of Education tells CNN that it's not going after particular accents, just faulty English.

"If students are being taught English, and they're going to refer to a comma as a 'coma', people are going to misunderstand them. ... You would tell somebody who could not be understood that they need to go into a different profession."

A writer for About.com blog Race Relations questions who the state of Arizona is really targeting.

"The way any given American pronounces words such as 'aunt,' 'route,' or 'lawyer' varies. So, why should the accents of only some of us be called into question?"

An NPR commentator thinks the concept of diversity in America is losing its importance.

"My last 40 years of teaching would have never happened if the Arizona law had been the law of the land in 1966. Forty years of accented instruction gone by the wayside! Gone also the 40 years when American education, lower and higher, finally recognized the diversity of America."

A writer for news site The Manteca Bulletin praises Arizona and thinks students will benefit from having teachers without accents.

"Arizona is doing the right thing. Kids — especially at younger ages — pick up on what they hear. If the teacher can't enunciate or use proper grammar, how can you expect the student to do so?"

So, is Arizona wrong to remove teachers with accents? Or will students receive a better education with teachers whose English speaking skills are deemed acceptable by the state?


Get more multi-source news from Newsy.com.  

 

WRITER:  Linden Wilson

PRODUCER: Newsy Staff

U.S. News

Arizona to Reassign Teachers with Heavy Accents

May 24, 2010
(1:41)
The Arizona Department of Education is seeking to reassign teachers with thick accents who teach English classes.
   
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