Arabic Being Taught in Dozens of US Public and Public Charter Schools

Maryland’s Department of Education “intends to introduce Arabic language instruction to its elementary school students,” the Creeping Sharia blog informed yesterday:

Maryland proposed the program as part of its Race to the Top federal grant application. Maryland was one of nine states and the District of Columbia to win in the $4.3 billion education competition designed to reshape teaching in schools across the country.

The pioneering program, called World Languages Pipelines, has the aim of developing elementary school programs in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi and dual immersion Spanish. The dual immersion Spanish requires a specific number of Spanish and English language speakers in the same classroom, something that might eventually be implemented for other languages such as Arabic, once the interest and number of programs grow.

Now that the Maryland State Department of Education has received the grant, it is in the hands of the school systems. Applications have been distributed to the schools and they will choose the language they desire to teach and submit their proposals to the Maryland State Department of Education. Four school systems will be selected to launch the program. The Maryland State Department of Education has an Arabic and Chinese education specialist to help in the program, such as in setting the curriculum. Arabic will also be introduced into the science curriculum such as the STEM program, or Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. Units in science will be taught in Arabic or Chinese.

Susan Spinnato, the director of instructional programs for the Maryland State Department of Education, told the Muslim Link that the whole purpose of the program “is to move Maryland public schools, that are number one in the nation, to world class. You can’t be world class unless you’re globally competent, and that means being able to speak another language and to have cross cultural knowledge.” She said that the pipelines program would have the effect of “placing Maryland on the cutting edge.”

Montgomery County Schools is already offering Arabic classes in four high schools as part of its globalist International Baccalaureate World Language choices — in addition to Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian.

However, Montgomery County and Maryland are not alone in providing access to Arabic language classes.

The Arabic-K12 Teachers Network website states that, as of November 2009, there are 93 public and public charter schools in 22 states offering Arabic classes.

This, of course, only reports schools that were teaching Arabic classes at the time. It does not account for schools that have since dropped out of the program or ones that may have been added. Given the trend, the odds are that the number of schools have expanded and more than likely outpace the former. To determine whether listed schools currently offer classes in Arabic it may be necessary to follow provided links to individual schools and search for foreign language classes.

Many International Baccalaureate World Schools (3,173 in 140 countries) — with “high quality programs of international education” — are likely candidates to offer Arabic classes.

In February, the IB store began offering posters in both Arabic and Chinese for its primary years program:

These high quality illustrated posters represent the six transdisciplinary themes for PYP students. Alone, each engaging and colourful poster acts as a distinctive representation of one of the transdisciplinary themes. Linked together, they depict a marvellous system that shows the inner workings of life, shared human experiences, organic processes, technological innovations and the world. Students can choose the way the posters are displayed in their classroom—the illustrations link up when placed to the side or on top of each other in countless variations.

This is part of IB’s Educating for Global Citizenship plan.

The Provo High School in Utah, an IB school, is taking its Arabic activities even further:

As part of the International Baccalaureate language program students are speaking Arabic with Palestinian students in Hebron through web cam and corresponding in Arabic with high school students in Bagdad, Iraq. Provo High students are writing in Arabic to Iraqi high school students in Bagdad.

Nearly a year ago, I ranted about the incremental Islamization of America. Well, here we go again. Just as Sharia has been creeping its way into the American culture, so have Arabic language classes.

It was reported in November 2007 that the US Department of Education was funding new Arabic education programs in IB schools.

In response to the increased interest in Arabic education, Coeus International School [in Washington, D.C.] provides a K-12 dual-language Arabic-English education based on the International Baccalaureate model. Language immersion at CIS offers integrated instruction for native English and Arabic speakers, with the goal of promoting high academic achievement, first and second language development, and cross-cultural understanding for all students. In the Lower School, students spend approximately half of their time learning in English and half in the other language of choice. Research and experience demonstrate that students in dual-language programs outperform their peers in monolingual programs across the academic spectrum. In addition, they develop proficiency in two or more languages and frequently become ambilingual.

Additionally, non-government organizations are working to promote Arabic classes in public schools.

In July 2010, Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon, became the only public high school in the state to “offer introductory Arabic to nearly 50 students” in the fall.

The Portland School Board this week approved a $70,000 grant from Qatar Foundation International, a Washington, D.C., group that promotes cross-cultural understanding through education. The money is enough to pay a full-time teacher for one year and kick-start development of a four-year curriculum. Denise Dodson, who runs the group’s West Coast programs, expects the grant to be renewed.

The foundation chose Lincoln because of its international studies program and long interest in Arabic. The school has offered after-school Arabic classes for more than a decade with help from Portland State University’s Middle East Studies Center. The two are now working to expand joint cultural events and lectures.

Note that this is actually an extension of the decade-long program. The difference is that the Arabic classes were now to be offered in-house.

The mission of the frankly globalist Qatar Foundation International’s boasts it “promote[s] education as a force that builds strong local communities, facilitates collaboration across geographical, social, and cultural boundaries, and builds a network of global citizens who communicate effectively and work together to find solutions to pressing global problems.”

Lincoln High School thereby became part of QFI’s Global Schools Network.

Other QFI partner schools in the US are the Boston Arts Academy and Charlestown High School in Boston, Campbell High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Lincoln Park High School in Chicago, OneWorld Now! in Seattle, and Washington Latin Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.

The QFI board of directors includes a familiar name, Vartan C. Gregorian. The twelfth president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Gregorian served for nine years as President of Brown University and as President of the New York Public Library.

Gregorian was also instrumental in Bill Ayers securing the Chicago Annenberg Challenge grant and involved in oversight of the CAC funds while Barack Obama served as president of the CAC itself.

Perhaps, by now, you can see how this goes. It’s nearly foolproof. Similar to tossing darts at a target 100 yards away, no matter how poor your aim, you’ll always hit the bulls-eye.

In this case, it does require some sleuthing. For concerned citizens, it’s well worth the effort to know if Arabic language classes are already present or may be on their way to a school near you — and funded by your hard-earned tax dollars.

And, how many other public schools are so fortunate as to have organizations like the Qatar Foundation International subsidizing Arabic classes in public schools? Look around. You may be surprised.