To the Editor:
Your article on Russian studies in an Alaska school district (“Elementary Youngsters Immersed in Russian Classes in Alaska School,” Jan. 12, 2005) offers a clear view of the potential of early-language learning and immersion education. I am perplexed, however, as to why you did not note that the U.S. Department of Education’s Foreign Language Assistance Program, known as FLAP, has been zero-funded in every year of the Bush presidency. FLAP provided funds for the Alaska project, and for others equally remarkable around the country, thanks only to the U.S. Senate’s willingness to reinstitute the program each time Mr. Bush cuts it out.
In light of this, the administration’s claims that it is committed to internationalizing America’s schools seem empty.
Rebecca R. Kline
Executive Director
Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
Carlisle, Pa.
