AUSTIN, Texas — More elementary school students in Eanes ISD will soon have access to learning more Spanish after the school board voted Tuesday night to expand the pilot program.
Futuro is the program that currently teaches some students in kindergarten through second grade some of their core subjects in both Spanish and English. Following the board’s vote, students in third through fifth grade will have access to the program over the next few years.
The program originally began back in 2017 with the goals of providing fluency in an additional language for students and increasing cross-cultural and global awareness, according to Eanes ISD documents.
But in the first three years, the program brought challenges for the district, including recruiting and retaining bilingual teachers, funding and addressing division between teachers and parents.
RELATED:
“The first three years is always rough for a business – it's the same with education programs, too. There will be some challenges along the way and that is for sure,” said Li Feng, the mother of a 1st grader at Barton Creek Elementary School.
Feng supports the program for the way it broadens students’ horizons.
“If we look at the long-term and also the broader impact of the program, it is really going to be very beneficial for a lot of future students,” Feng said. “And also, if we look at sort of the long-term prospect, it's going to attract a lot of future homeowners to live in the school district because it's such a wonderful program.”
But some parents spoke against the program, citing the challenges the district is facing.
“Spanish immersion carries a financial burden on our district that in three years’ time will have cost over a million dollars in immersion stipends [for bilingual teachers] – a program which serves 5% of our population. EISD is already facing a $2.25 million deficit, ranked 11 out of 13 area districts that are paying the least to teachers,” parent Laura Francis told school board members.
Another parent told the board it’s not fair for teachers.
“Non-immersion teachers feel underappreciated and undervalued, which is reflected in the number of outstanding teachers we've lost, including another one tonight,” the parent said. “Hiring quality teachers has been a struggle for this program so I ask where you think we will find an outstanding teacher.”
Ultimately, board members unanimously decided to expand the program and committed to improving it. The program will now be expanded over the next few years.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: