Letter of Support for Spanish Dual Immersion at William Penn Elementary School

Dear Dr. Bates:

We respectfully urge you to come to a definitive decision to support the continuation of the William Penn (WP) Spanish Dual Immersion program. It is our goal to show you that the WP community supports its Dual Immersion program so that you decide to override and negate the May 9, 2013 recommendation from the WP Community Council asking you to phase out the Spanish Dual Immersion program.  We are signing this petition because we believe that the Spanish Dual Immersion program at WP Elementary School in Salt Lake City, UT, is worthwhile and should be maintained and enhanced.  

We believe that elementary school is the optimal time to learn a second language. Data collected from targeted testing shows that WP students are performing at, or above, grade level for all subjects, including Spanish. This program is an unqualified success. The Granite School District has provided excellent support to WP's Spanish Dual Immersion program and we would like to see this level of support continue indefinitely. Furthermore, Dual Language education is strongly supported by the Utah Legislature, the Utah State Office of Education, the current and past governors and most of the leaders and educators in the Granite School District.  We believe that public policy decisions of this importance should be guided by valid data and made by qualified education professionals.