[Canadian_Mind]

Fuck My Life.

"Philosophy"

I was spelling it right at first, but sounded it out and decided the "sophy" part sounded more like an "siphy"

[Donny_Brasco]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

Scape Scape:

Nope. Read again, and this has already been posted:

$1:

The proposal notes that a Mandarin program would be ineligible for government funding, so a "not-for-profit parent group" would fundraise to support the program.

They can fundraise till hell freezes over, but the fact remains that if it's an immersion program sanctioned by the Government of BC they get public funding and if it's a private school, as some have suggested, they still get Gov't funding just at a reduced rate.

Here's the facts about funding as posted by "Our Kids" private school website.

$1:

More than 85 per cent of private schools in B.C. are partially funded by the provincial government-receiving between 35 and 50 per cent per cent of the public school per-pupil grant, depending on the category of the school.

Private and independent schools receiving government grants must employ B.C. certified teachers and offer educational programs consistent with meeting the outcomes of the provincial mandated curriculum.

Independent schools account for about 10 per cent of B.C.'s K-12 student population. Independent and private schools receive more than $150 million in funding annually. It would cost the B.C. government an estimated $750 million to $1 billion of new capital funding to accommodate all independent and private school students in public schools.

So either way they get funded for a program that may or may not be open to all students, depending on how it's operated. To say that the parents are going to raise all the money is more than a bit of a misnomer.

Who cares. Many taxpayers support this idea.

[Donny_Brasco]

Canadian_Mind Canadian_Mind:

Fuck My Life.

"Philosophy"

I was spelling it right at first, but sounded it out and decided the "sophy" part sounded more like an "siphy"

Write everything in word then cut and paste to CKA.

Pretty soon you'll recognize most of your common errors and correct them yourself.

[Freakinoldguy]

Donny_Brasco Donny_Brasco:

Who cares. Many taxpayers support this idea.

May I be so bold as to ask how you came to that conclusion? Was it clairvoyance, research or just a wild freaking guess?

They're closing schools for lack of funding, laying off teachers and diminishing the standard of education in this province and yet you seem to think it's a good idea to start a program that'll benefit a minority of the student population, while being paid for in whole or in part by the taxpayers.

Maybe when the Government fixes the problems with the education system as it is now, they can have their program, private school or whatever, but until then I think most parents would prefer their tax dollars go towards a quality education for their own kids rather than some private program that'll benefit a select few.

[Donny_Brasco]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

They're closing schools for lack of funding, laying off teachers and diminishing the standard of education in this province and yet you seem to think it's a good idea to start a program that'll benefit a minority of the student population, while being paid for in whole or in part by the taxpayers.

That's bullshit.

Learning Mandarin would benefit every student.

Furthermore there are many programs that use schools and the facilities they provide to do programs that go above and beyond the regular curriculum.

There are summer programs, Ukrainian dance instruction, music, science, chess clubs, radio stations, school newspapers, ESL classes, babysitter courses, cadets, scouts...many of these programs are funded externally to the taxes dollars that are provided to the school and benefit a minority of the students...each.

But as a collective they benefit all of the students and the whole community.

Mandarin immersion, if funded like the debate club or the square dance group, is a perfectly logical and acceptable way to use the facilities of any school anywhere in Canada where the demand for such a program is there.

I'd go one step further and say fund the whole shot, I'd send my kids there.

[Donny_Brasco]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

Donny_Brasco Donny_Brasco:

Who cares. Many taxpayers support this idea.

May I be so bold as to ask how you came to that conclusion? Was it clairvoyance, research or just a wild freaking guess?

Welcome to the real world where Chinese people live in Canada and pay taxes. And these people are just as Canadian as you and I.

$1:

Richmond is a predominantly Chinese Vancouver suburb, where more than half the population speaks a Chinese dialect.

Ohhh scary ain't it you better lock the trailer and be on the look out for gooks FOG...

[Freakinoldguy]

Donny_Brasco Donny_Brasco:

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

They're closing schools for lack of funding, laying off teachers and diminishing the standard of education in this province and yet you seem to think it's a good idea to start a program that'll benefit a minority of the student population, while being paid for in whole or in part by the taxpayers.

That's bullshit.

Learning Mandarin would benefit every student.

Furthermore there are many programs that use schools and the facilities they provide to do programs that go above and beyond the regular curriculum.

There are summer programs, Ukrainian dance instruction, music, science, chess clubs, radio stations, school newspapers, ESL classes, babysitter courses, cadets, scouts...many of these programs are funded externally to the taxes dollars that are provided to the school and benefit a minority of the students...each.

But as a collective they benefit all of the students and the whole community.

Mandarin immersion, if funded like the debate club or the square dance group, is a perfectly logical and acceptable way to use the facilities of any school anywhere in Canada where the demand for such a program is there.

I'd go one step further and say fund the whole shot, I'd send my kids there.

I don't think anybody objects to a Mandarin "class", pardon the pun, in any school but what people don't want is to fund either a complete immersion program or a private school.

These programs are only beneficial if they are inclusive, which may or may not be the case here. Personally I'd rather see Mandarin being taught in high school as an optional class, much like Latin used to be, rather than segregating a segment of the student population and giving them a leg up on the rest at our expense.

[Freakinoldguy]

Donny_Brasco Donny_Brasco:

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

Donny_Brasco Donny_Brasco:

Who cares. Many taxpayers support this idea.

May I be so bold as to ask how you came to that conclusion? Was it clairvoyance, research or just a wild freaking guess?

Welcome to the real world where Chinese people live in Canada and pay taxes. And these people are just as Canadian as you and I.

$1:

Richmond is a predominantly Chinese Vancouver suburb, where more than half the population speaks a Chinese dialect.

Ohhh scary ain't it you better lock the trailer and be on the look out for gooks FOG...

Naw, the Chinese don't bother me, as the matter of fact I gew up with alot of them.

What really bothers me is self righteous native Canadians, who, hidden behind the thin veil of the oppressed, hurl disparaging inuendo's at anyone who's view point doesn't match their own.

[romanP]

KorbenDeck KorbenDeck:

"According to the group's proposal, "Richmond children will be most successful if they have the ability to communicate and understand the fellow citizens of our city."" Correct me if I am wrong but shouldn't "citizens" of the city be able to speak english?

Why shouldn't more people be able to speak both languages? Language barriers are broken down much more easily if everyone speaks the same languages.

[romanP]

kenmore kenmore:

There are only 2.... repeat 2 official languages in the Country .. English and French.. There is nothing wrong with learning any language, but it should be a private paid for course and not a school board cost. I am sure there are resources that one could avail themselves or their children of to learn Mandarin..
Learn what ever you want but if its not French or English don't expect my tax dollars to pay for it.

It's not like it's a religion. There is nothing to be lost from people learning more languages. Public funding for this is a very good idea, considering at least half of the people in Richmond apparently speak Mandarin already.

[romanP]

KorbenDeck KorbenDeck:

martin14 martin14:

If you have ever been to Richmond, you would realize how wrong you are.

I know I am wrong I go to Richmond a lot. It seems to me that spending money to create a new immersion program so that immigrants do not have to learn English in order to communicate is a bad idea. The solution is not to have children learn a foreign language its to have the people who speak a foreign language in Canada learn English (or French depending on where you are).

So you advocate the willfull ignorance of English-speaking Canadians?

[Lemmy]

Curriculum is curriculum, whether they learn it in English, French, Chinese or Swahili. First, "immersion" means that they already know how to speak English or French, so if they know English (let's leave out French since this is BC) already, and they're gonna take their math and history and science courses in Chinese, what's the problem? It's not gonna cost the tax payer any extra. They just need to make sure the teacher knows English and Chinese. Clearly a lot of people on this thread have reacted angrily without thinking it out very thoroughly.

[Arctic_Menace]

I don't mind a course similar to those you can find that offer basic German or Spanish, but immersion?

Granted, this is Canada. But the Citizens should first and foremost speak English.

[ShepherdsDog]

If it was a real Chinese school, most of the students in Grade 9 would be doing math that they teach in Grade 12 classrooms in Canada, and having panic attacks every 6 weeks because of exams.

[Brenda]

I think immersion is a bit much. I think being taught different languages is perfect (I was taught 4 in highschool), but on an hours/wk base, not on a "everything" based.