Mexican curriculum in Oregon schools stirs debate

11:05 AM PDT on Thursday, September 20, 2007

Associated Press  

Some Oregon high schools are adopting Mexico's public school curriculum to help educate Spanish-speaking students with textbooks, an online Web site, DVDs and CDs provided free by Mexico to teach math, science and even U.S. history.

The Oregon Department of Education and Mexico's Secretariat of Public Education are discussing aligning their curricula so courses will be valid in both countries. Similar ventures are under way in Yakima, Wash., San Diego, Calif., and Austin, Texas.

"Students come to us with such complex issues," said Tim King, director of Clackamas Middle College and Clackamas Web Academy, where a virtual course using Mexico's learning materials got started this week. "We've had to change in order to fit into each school scene, become more complex and open ourselves up to new situations." Oregon officials say the approach is intended as a supplement to keep students learning in Spanish while also gaining English skills.

Until now, Oregon school districts generally have relied on bilingual aides or used Spanish material different from the English material others are studying. "That's not enough," said Patrick Burk, chief policy officer with the superintendent's office of the Oregon Department of Education. He said the idea is minimal disruption for immigrant Latinos. "The availability of resources is astounding," said Burk, who flew to Mexico with Oregon curriculum officials in August to discuss making equivalency standards official. "We're able to serve the students so much better if we're working together."