Editorial: Irving ISD incumbents will represent all students

The Irving ISD races are worth a close watch. The challengers of current IISD Place 1 trustee Nancy L. Jones and Place 2 trustee Adrian “A.D.” Jenkins both are proponents of English immersion. This process differs from bilingual education in that English Language Learners comprehend English without the aid of their native language. In some cases, the students are distanced from their culture and linguistic background. In order to cut the fat out of their budgets, some school districts have considered eliminating expensive bilingual education initiatives and opting for cheaper immersion programs. The election of Steven Jones and Marilyn Gail Conder Wells to Place 1 and Place 2 trustee seats, respectively, could be the death sentence for bilingual programs and the board’s move toward a body that represents the district’s diverse population. Therefore, the North Dallas Gazette’s endorsement for Irving ISD Places 1 and 2 go to incumbents Nancy Jones and Jenkins.

Steven Jones wants to serve the best interest of those who want to continue to live in the 1960s and keep district the way it was. Recently, the Place 1 candidate came under attack for questioning a Hispanic Irving ISD staff member because of the way she pronounced her name. Personal attacks as a means to spew ignorance and disrespect is not warranted. Steven Jones is playing too much into the hands of politics, feeding the egos of those who fear the day when they are not the majority (that day has come), and lacks the competence to make the right decision to help children.

Steven Jones wrote in his candidate profile to The Dallas Morning News that he would “do everything … to make English the language of the IISD and ensure we give every student the number one tool to succeed in the United States of America – a mastery of the English language.” His comments beg to question Steven Jones’ ideology on a student’s right to a public school education. There is not a problem with teaching Spanish speakers English, but there is no justification in ordering a certain population to abandon their heritage, an attribute of English immersion programs. The endorsement of these programs is assimilation at its worst.

Second, the election of two more Caucasian school board members defies the importance of diversity on the board of a school district that is 70 percent Hispanic (IISD Superintendent Dana Beeden is an African American). In early 2010, a federal judge struck down a lawsuit filed by Manuel Benavidez that challenged the school board’s at-large election system. It is not hard to imagine that should the board revert to all Caucasian once again, another lawsuit will follow.

Incumbents Nancy Jones and Jenkins understand it is not representing a chosen few that helps the children of Irving ISD. Steven Jones and Wells have yet to comprehend division achieves very little. The board of trustees needs individuals who will embrace diversity, not sweep it under the rug. It also requires leaders who never forget doing what is best for all students is the desired end result.