With a major winter storm hitting the Northeast, New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio kicked into full-on work-mode soon after he was sworn into office by former President Bill Clinton, who administered the oath of office at a ceremony outside City Hall on Jan. 1, 2014.
While he addressed the public about school closings and road conditions, and shoveled his own driveway in Brooklyn on his third day as mayor, he also made an effort to address the Latino community in Spanish.
Nearly one-third of Texans who are 5 years and older speak Spanish at home, according to the 2000 census. And, for children younger than five years old, the percentage is much higher. Naturally, conversational habits used in the home, such as speaking Spanish, continue when in school. Nonetheless, some educators don’t like students speaking Spanish in the classroom for an invariable number of reasons. In fact, one middle school principal, Amy Lacey, in Hempstead, Texas, went as far as to tell students that they could not use Spanish in the classroom; which directly led to the principal being suspended with pay.
Check the job listings on Craigslist, Idealist, Monster.com and Linkedin, and you will find postings that indicate: "Spanish Speaker Needed," "Spanish Fluency Preferred" or "Native speaker of fully fluent in Spanish requested." There's no doubt that the language is in great demand; however, the people who natively speak it, simply are not.
Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana is set to release his first album entirely in Spanish. It's about time, as his Latin fans have been waiting for decades for the icon to show off his musical chops and have artists sing in his native tongue.
