To the Editor,

The public school system is turning into a Tower of Babel.(“Surge in multilingual learners impacts city”, Warwick Beacon, October 19)

Columnists John Howell and Rory Schuler report that “Warwick school students speak some 30 different languages”. Unfortunately, English is increasingly less likely to be one of them.

Reckless immigration policies and a deliberate de-emphasis on the importance of acquiring proficiency in the English language have contributed to this untenable situation.

Howell and Schuler report that even some students born in our country “don’t know English.” That was unthinkable just a generation ago.

The columnists quote state Rep. Enrique Sanchez as saying that, “Every day, many people arrive from many countries around the world.”

Many of these new arrivals to America don’t speak any English at all. That means the language problem in the schools is going to get worse.

The expression “multilingual learners” is, of course, just a euphemism for saying “can’t speak English”. It should be obvious that it is counterproductive to place non-English speaking students in mainstream classrooms.

As proposed by state Rep. Mike Chippendale, those school age children not proficient in English should be enrolled in English only immersion classes before they can matriculate into regular classes. Such a program would better serve the academic interests of both non-English and English speaking students.

Howell and Schuler point out that the inability to speak English impedes a student’s chance of success in school. If unchecked, that situation ultimately threatens the unity and well-being of our nation.

Noah Webster, one of our Founding Fathers, understood this threat. In response, he produced in 1828 his American Dictionary (he learned to read in 26 languages in preparation for the project).

Webster believed that a common language was essential to forming, and keeping, a unified American nation. Noah Webster was right.

A.H. Liddle

Warwick