Bi-lingual Education

A long and hard debate.
Should schools have a bi-lingual education program? How will it be funded? What kind of Bi-lingual education program should we implement? And many more questions were brought up during the class debate on Thursday. There are three main types of Bi-lingual education programs, one including a dual language class, where native and non-native students learn English and a second language together.
Many reasons people think bi-lingual education programs are bad is because the students do poorly on standardized tests. Well that is mostly from them not learning the rote material that is on the test. Many studies have found that non-native English speakers will learn better if they can read in their native language. They can use the knowledge they gain from reading and transfer that information into making it easier to read in English.
Another thing people believe is that ESL students fall behind when they learn two languages. Well, they might not have the same exact level as native English speakers, but they have knowledge in two languages. They can think and speak in two languages, although not at the same level. Bi-lingual education has positive cognitive effects on a person.