Submitted by Deianira, Jun 20, 2007 22:08

In the early 1900's, when bi-lingual classes were unheard of and immigrant children crowded our schools, my mother (a six-year-old from a tiny Greek village), attended public school and just as her many of her classmates, knew no English. To graduate from Eighth Grade then, each pupil had to stand - as did my mother - before the class, recite a long poem in English, and sight-read a passage in German and Latin! My mother's "Grade-School" English was so perfect, she was often asked what college she had attended. Then began the dumbing down that is destroying not only common discourse but the very infrastructure of our society. In the 1930's, two years of Latin were required to graduate from High-School. 4 years of High-School Latin were required to enter college. Required years of Ancient Greek to graduate from college gradually diminished and finally were dropped. Now, many High-School graduates can hardly read and write correct English. Nor is knowledge of any English required in our colleges where "English as a Second Language" or "Bi-lingual" classes may outnumber regular English courses. Illiterate grammar is common in public speaking, radio and TV. Even our notoriously literate Bill Clinton says, "Between him and I."

English has been the magic glue which has kept these States UNITED. But our ever-so enlightened Congress refuses to acknowledge that the English language is an invaluable, in fact indispensable element of American society and our national identity - what's left of it. Soon, we shall be hearing, "Push button One for English."

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