Foreign languages on the decline in middle schools

Posted by Philissa at 11:19 AM

Reminding us that for all of the uproar over Khalil Gibran, the school is offering a unique program, the Post today highlights the Middle School Task Force's revelation that many middle schools are not teaching foreign language, despite the state requirement that kids get two years of language instruction by the end of 9th grade. A Staten Island parent says in the article that foreign language is "one of those things that kind of fell by the wayside" as schools have shifted their focus to the high-stakes subjects: math and English. In fact, the DOE now employs 200 fewer foreign language instructors than it did in 2001, according to the article, even as interest in studying foreign languages has risen nationally.