During our early statehood, young Nuevomexicanos were punished for their lack of English. Generations of bilinguals only realized the negative effects of speaking Spanish. My grandparents are great examples of this. They grew up speaking New Mexican Spanish at home and learned English at school. Like many others, they did not teach their children Spanish because of the negative connotations the society put on the language and their culture. Today, they admit that, back then, they did not see the benefit of bilingualism until later.
Bilingualism is an asset that can lift New Mexico’s education system out of the gutter, improve international trade, bring more investment to the state and so much more. A statewide bilingual education would benefit New Mexico in unimaginable ways all while keeping true to a tradition of the people who have lived here for centuries.
Today, many New Mexican children do not know English when they start school. Schools are not equipped to meet the needs of English learners, and those students are often deferred to special needs programs. New Mexico’s high school graduation rate ranks 46th among all states with Hispanics and Native Americans suffering the most.
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Furthermore, bilinguals have “a higher density of gray matter that contains most of the brains neurons and synapsis and more activity in certain regions when engaging a second language.” Experts say that being bilingual may not make you smarter, per say, but it is an exercise to keep your brain healthy, improve openness to new information, increase neuroplasticity between new regions of your brain, and even decrease the chances of dementia.
An immersive bilingual public school system could improve the dropout rate in New Mexico and the mental health of all students. Bilingual educators today are mostly peppered in private schools around the United States where parents pay for Spanish immersion schooling. Outside of New Mexico, where over 40% of the residents speak Spanish, it is hard to find that many qualified teachers. While attracting families and money to New Mexico to raise their kids as bilinguals, New Mexico would also create jobs in a neglected public school system.
You might ask, “Who is going to pay for this?” After all, according to the state Auditor’s Office, Albuquerque Public Schools already needs to shrink schools and cut jobs. The auditor’s report mentions the mass exodus APS experienced during the pandemic as parents opted for homeschooling and alternative schools. A bilingual education would attract parents back to our public school system and strengthen the budgets of our struggling public educators.
Education aside, 418 million people speak Spanish in the Americas, making it the most spoken language in the new world. Why not open ourselves up to more business by using Spanish as an intermediary in a globalized economy?
As New Mexicans know, our education system is struggling, children are falling behind their American counterparts, and our economy is small and undiversified. Bilingual education is an investment in better education and a more diverse, faster-growing economy. New Mexico needs to try something new without forgetting about the cultures that make it beautiful.
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