At least in theory, all students are supposed to be taught English. However, when the public schools’ bureaucratese refers to “English Learners”, it means kids from foreign countries who don’t speak English.
It turns out that the public school systems in Guilford and Forsyth counties have many more of these kids than Wake and Mecklenburg counties even though the latter two counties have much greater population.
Having kids categorized in this manner gives the school systems access to more money.
We can speculate as to the reasons why Triad counties lead in this statistic. But it ought to be at least mildly eye-opening.
Let me guess. Maybe the generous welfare benefits in Guilford and Forsyth counties is a magnet for illegal aliens. Or am I wrong ?
I don’t know why the numbers are as they are, Fred. It could be the numbers in Wake and Mecklenburg were driven down by ICE activities. It could be that we have in the Triad such an elaborate infrastructure welcoming third world immigrants and helping them. We have numerous organizations assisting their resettling here. It could be they are drawn here because the cost of living is less. Maybe there are other factors.
Remember the Greensboro Hebrew Academy that got bailed out of debt by many millions of taxpayer $ and then never served any immigrant kids?
How can we forget, J. Sobran? And we have more “English Learners” in spite of that!