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As a French teacher, I was saddened, but not surprised, to learn in Tuesday’s edition of the Bangor Daily News of the Houlton school district’s plan to eliminate its French program. While budget cuts are a reality for schools with declining enrollment, world languages too often find themselves among the first programs tossed out as deadweight. For a school district in Aroostook County, or indeed anywhere in Maine, the assumption that French is not relevant neglects the lessons of history.
For, if French is less relevant in the state — and even The County — than it was in the past, this is in many ways the direct result of education policies specifically targeting it. Beginning in 1919, the English Education Bill enshrined into law severe restrictions against the use of languages other than English within schools in the state. By its repeal in 1960, the law had accomplished exactly what its xenophobic proponents had intended, by precipitating the long decline of French in communities where it had once been a majority language.
So we are caught in a vicious circle as school districts, now for fiscal rather than strictly discriminatory motives, treat French as disposable. French teachers stand on the last lines of defense against the final disappearance of language communities that have existed in the state in some form for more than 400 years. When they vote on a budget on May 14, Houlton residents should demand better of their school district and consider other ways to address budget shortfalls.
Jason Moreau
Orrington
