Politics

Who Needs A Foreign Language? Not Michigan Teens, Says State Rep

February 09, 2013, 4:43 PM

Rep. Phil Potvin
Rep. Phil Potvin

English words are the only ones Michigan students need to succeed, says a Republican lawmaker pushing a bill to ban the foreign language high school curriculum requirement. 

"It's forcing kids into frustration. It's forcing kids into failure at a time that I thought we were here to set up success," Rep. Phil Potvin says, according to Steve Carmody of Michigan Radio

Potvin dismisses the suggestion that learning a foreign language will better prepare Michigan teens for a globalized economy. He says the requirement has the opposite effect. Potvin says the foreign language requirement pushes kids to drop out of school.

Potvin wants to give students the option of taking more vocational courses, which he believes will better prepare them for their future.

Carmody talks to a teacher who sees the legislation as stupide, ridicolo, dumm, absurdo.


Read more:  Michigan Radio


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