We all know the consequences of the budget cuts: the potential of a STEM teacher retiring without a replacement, an empty middle school science position, and the total elimination of the 504 coordinator position are all legitimate causes for concern. 

There seems to be an odd trend, however. Whenever the topic is raised at Harwood Union Middle and High School, we tend to only panic about the impacts the cuts make within our walls. Rarely are the larger implications of the budget cuts outside of the high school ever discussed. 

Even though the budget has passed, it’s time we stop exclusively thinking about our high school and start expanding our views on how the previously failed budget proposals have impacted our community. And what is the most devastating impact? All elementary school world language positions within the district have been cut, with the lack of these positions presumably lasting for multiple years. 

Unfortunately, as much of a shocking reduction that it is, there aren’t many other alternatives to these cuts that wouldn’t be as drastic or compliant with state mandates as the removal of these positions, not to mention that the passing of the third budget proposal sets this cut in stone for the next year at least.

The Benefits of K-6 World Language and the Consequences of Removing It

For some background information, French is the language that is taught at all of the elementary schools in the Harwood Unified Union School District, including Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield, Warren Elementary School, and Brookside Primary. At Crossett Brook, students in fifth and sixth grade are not only taught French but Spanish too, with the time split between learning each language. With the budget passing, all of these language programs have been cut. The reduction in force of the teachers for these classes will be done by seniority.

The benefits that world language classes bring are immense. In living in such a globalized world at such a globalized time, knowing at least one additional language is critical, and it’s something that colleges like to see too. (Most colleges prefer that you have at least two years of any world language.) Learning a second language also has its additional pros. “Being exposed to a second language at an early age has tremendous cognitive benefits,” Fayston and Moretown Elementary French teacher Erika Lindberg said. “The brain stores information from a second language in the same area as one’s first language. In some ways you could say the brain doesn’t differentiate between one’s 1st and subsequent languages when acquired at a young age.” 

Though middle and high school language programs are being kept, the loss of K-6 world language still has a massive impact on students. In fact, elementary school students have a significant edge when it comes to learning a new language compared to most middle and high school students, and even a large majority of adults. A study conducted by MIT suggests that children remain unexpectedly skilled at learning a new language up until they reach the age of around seventeen or eighteen. The study has also found that it is nearly impossible for a majority of people to gain the language proficiency of a native speaker if they didn’t start learning the language before the age of ten. “Adults can acquire a second language later in life but the earlier one begins a second language the better,” Lindberg commented. It will now be up to elementary schoolers to learn a new language on their own time, many of which may choose not to.

Additionally, despite the fact that French is a Romance language while English is a Germanic language, there are many shared connections between the two languages which can boost the English vocabulary knowledge of a student as well. “There are so many connections between French words and English words. I like to think that my students’ English vocabulary has grown due to their exposure to French” Lindberg said. Without French class, students may perform slightly worse in English than they did previously.

World language classes also provide an avenue for learning about different cultures. Elementary schoolers don’t just learn about France, but other parts of the Francophone world such as some of the French speaking African countries.  “Being exposed at an early age to different cultures, including the language of different cultures, opens a child’s mind to a much more accepting view of differences,” Lindberg said. “We know that this is true when children grow up in a community that doesn’t just accept differences in race, gender, sexual orientation and religion but embraces them, this is also the case for world cultures. Students, especially in our rural Vermont community, have little exposure to different cultures. Most of the district’s youngest students will miss out on this opportunity.” Without exposure to other cultures, how can students understand them?

What many elementary students value about world language class the most, though, is that it’s simply fun! The teaching structure of world language class differs from the structure that the average class has. Content is taught through songs and dances, games, and other activities that seek high levels of involvement. Students also have many fun events to look forward to throughout the year, such as French food day and the elementary school concerts where some grades will sing French songs for their families. With the removal of K-6 world language, many students will obviously get upset. “Several students have expressed confusion and some anger that they will no longer have French,” Lindberg reported. “It has been difficult to answer some of the younger students’ questions on why I am leaving.” I myself have a sister who seemed devastated when she found out that she will not have French class next year, and may likely not have it for the rest of elementary school.

So when will elementary school world language return? Well, as of now, nobody can give any sort of answer. Needless to say, the cutting of these classes is upsetting, and it leaves us to imagine what more could have been lost had this version of the budget failed. “I am greatly disappointed in the decision to cut world language from the elementary schools,” Lindberg said in her closing statement. “I can’t help but wonder if areas that do not directly affect the students could have been cut instead.”