Scottsdale Unified Kept Parents And Staff In Dark About Planned Afghan Refugee Student Enrollment (theater, school)

[JGMotorsport64]

I must say I’m kind of surprised about the reaction to this in a good way. I grew up in the public schools in this area. My school took in a dozen or so Eastern European students one year. A few were in some of my classes. It was fascinating interacting with them.

It’s a good educational experience for them but also for the other kids. There is so much to learn from these Afghani kids

[pathrunner]

Thankfully Scottsdale and Phoenix are becoming more and more diverse so that people can learn about each other and become more understanding of differences in skin color, culture, religion, etc. Building walls (that will never actually be built) creates division, not unity.

How about some compassion for these people who have been through hell?

The one thing I am an absolute stickler on is immigrants need to and should learn the language of the country to which they emigrate. Yes they're under pressure and I'm not saying they should do it immediately but they should get it done. One of the many reasons people leave California is that they are unable to get a job because they don't speak Spanish even though they've lived there for their entire lives.

[foodyum]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

I suppose both of you are going to volunteer to work with these kids?

If I lived there I would.
I do in my community.
I don’t see why it would be bad thing to do.

[Oldglory]

Originally Posted by gemstone1

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V View Post
How wonderful that a privileged area is giving less fortunate children the opportunity for an education.
Thanks for the heart warming news!

Yep.... apparently some folks have forgotten that we are a country of immigrants. Less than 2% of our population is native to this country, so we've all assimilated, and we've all received some help from others along the way.

Wrong! Foreign-born residents made up 13.7 percent of the U.S. population in 2017, up from 13.5 percent in 2016, according to the Census Bureau’s estimates. That put the proportion of immigrants in the United States last year at the highest since 1910, when they made up 14.7 percent of the population.

The other 86.3% were native born citizens in 2017! Get your facts straight before you post nonsense.

[Ponderosa]

This is wonderful news and will benefit Scottsdale schools. It will be a good thing for spoiled American children to be exposed to children from other countries that still believe in education and hard work. Maybe some of it will rub off on them.

[Bondurant]

Why is this of interest to folks that do not live in Scottsdale let alone Arizona? Doubt Scottsdale is the only school district taking in refugee students. Most of them will turn out fine. Former colleague was a refugee from Somalia during the Black Hawk Down era. She turned out better as a refugee in Phoenix than her cousins who were sent to live in an immigrant ghetto in Sweden.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Very proud of SUSD pushing back against these weirdo xenophobes that don’t seem to understand public schools at all. We’re talking about children. Children who have been through hell and simply want an education. Good for Scottsdale.

I don't think I've ever known anyone from Afghanistan, although I have known many Pakistanis. How similar that is, I don't know.

But I was principal of quite a multicultural public school in the suburbs of Washington, DC. We had a flag for each nation that we had a student from hanging in our gyms. At one point, that was 22 flags. So pretty diverse.

But in 20 years I can only remember 1 ESL student that we had to suspend. 1. Wish that rate had been as good for our good old American kids.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

So...you plan to do nothing and you think that's nice. No surprise there.

From what I've seen, no one here has said they plan to help in any way they can. I guess no one understands how much things like this impact a community and its schools. If any of you have young children in the Scottsdale schools, you will soon find out as the teachers become overwhelmed.

BTW, no one said these kids don't have a right to go to school. So I don't know where that came from.

In my younger days when I volunteered in the schools, one year the teacher was overwhelmed trying to deal with the kids who were learning English. This as she was trying to teach those who knew English. She was so glad to see me when I would come in. I spent my time helping kids learn English.

A little empathy goes a long way. Picture yourself in the teachers' shoes, for example.

Been there. Done that (as both a teacher and an administrator). Lots more difficult challenges in a school.

[thinkalot]

In a few years they will have their own business and their children will be at the top of their classes. Not really something to worry about.

[BOS2IAD]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

In a few years they will have their own business and their children will be at the top of their classes. Not really something to worry about.

Not all of the refugees become successful business owners. Nor do all their children end up at the top of their classes.

In the recent past, WaPo had an article about past Afghan refugees. Many of them ended up in Northern CA. There were some who had been doctors in Afghanistan and discovered that their education didn't qualify them to be doctors here. Rather than take a lower paying job, many of then chose to be on welfare. Their reasoning was that it was shameful for them to take lower jobs, yet, to them, it wasn't shameful to take welfare. Again, not all behaved that way but a significant number did.