Spanish needs worry some teachers - Waukegan

“Valerie Goranson has twice lost her teaching assignment in Waukegan because she doesn’t speak Spanish.

After six years teaching 5th grade at North Elementary School, district officials moved Goranson to Clark Elementary School last year to make room for a Spanish-speaking teacher who could instruct the schools growing number of Spanish-speaking pupils, Goranson said. Now shes being involuntarily transferred again.

Its the kind of deja-vu that has Goranson, and many other monolingual teachers in Waukegan School District 60, worried about their prospects for continuing to teach in a city with one of the fastest-growing Latino populations. If immigrants continue to enroll in Waukegan schools at the rate they are now, these teachers wonder how long it will be before there are few positions available for teachers who dont speak Spanish.”

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