Schools' China deal has its critics

In December, three McDowell County School representatives will travel to China. The voyage is part of a deal that will see at least two -- possibly three -- teachers of the Mandarin dialect of the Chinese language fully funded to teach in McDowell school for three years.

The offer to recruit and fund the teachers was accepted at the October meeting of the McDowell County School Board, acting on the recommendation of Superintendent Ira Trollinger.

To Trollinger, the deal is far too good to pass up, adding three skilled teachers for three years at virtually no cost to the school system, county or state. He told the board the offer was a long-awaited an well-deserved reward for years of McDowell Schools' actively participating in all kinds of international studies, workshops, symposia and conferences.

Most members of the School Board agreed. Notably Lynn Greene, Terry English, Brian Piercy and Randy Williams spoke enthusiastically of the educational, cultural, intellectual and vocational advantages of learning a language that is increasingly present, or even dominant, in business, finance and industry.

Piercy said at the time that the program would give McDowell young people a crucial advantage in years to come.

"I've got nephews and nieces in the system," he said. "They're not just going to be competing with kids from McDowell. We are truly on the global edge. We've got a duty to do everything we can to prepare our kids for what's coming.

"A $3,000 investment? We have to do this for our children. Some people might have a problem with it," he said, but it's a small price to pay for an education that might make the difference in where a Chinese business decides to place its American office or factory.

Trollinger reported that arrangements for travel have already been finalized. "There are a total of three people in our group," making the trip, said Trollinger, "(School Board Chairwoman) Priscilla Owenby, (Associate Superintendent) Mike Murray and myself," will travel to China in December to attend an academic conference and seal the deal.

The travel comes at considerable discount, with most of the expense born by Hanban, a Chinese language and culture education advocacy organization, through the Center for International Understanding of UNC-Chapel Hill, Trollinger stated. A smaller part of the cost, les than $3,000, will be paid by the McDowell County School System.

That, said Trollinger, is a small price to pay for the services of three fulltime teachers for three years. Most board members agreed.

But Board Member Kay Sinclair did not and does not. At October's meeting, she questioned the wisdom of the decision from several angles, stressing that she was "playing devil's advocate" and asking questions she felt sure her constituents would have wanted asked. Since then, however, she has stated unequivocally she thinks the decision is ill advised and sends the wrong message.

While she said she supports "cultural awareness" and "global education," through such traditional curricula as social studies and geography, "at this point, I do not feel that learning to speak and write a Chinese dialect is needed for students in McDowell County."

Three years is a short time, she added. When that time is past, will McDowell be in a position to pick up the cost of adding those positions permanently? If not, she reasoned, the skills learned will be hard or impossible to maintain, due to the lack of a Mandarin-speaking Chinese population in McDowell.

She added she supports Spanish education, including the Spanish language immersion classes at Eastfield Elementary, due to the common use of that language in the community.

A person does not have to master a foreign language in order to respect and appreciate that culture, she said. The focus of the schools is "to provide a solid basic education for our students to assure them of a productive place in our society, a place for following their interests, whatever they may choose," said Sinclair.

China's ruling Communist Party has become concerned about negative reactions to the perception of a "rising China threat" and feels the need to grow the "soft power" of culture as well as their growing "hard power" in the military and economic arena, according to the China Daily, a newspaper published by the Chinese government.

To that end, the government founded Hanban, also known as the Office of Chinese Language Council International, which in turn establishes satellites called Confucius Institutes at schools and universities around the world. The institutes are described in the Chinese press as advancing awareness of China as a culture based on harmony and peace.

China Daily reports that 2,400 high schools and primary schools in America are now teaching Chinese or planning to introduce it soon.

Trollinger said Hanban plans to send 45 teachers to North Carolina schools next year. China has been actively preparing literally millions of teachers to teach Chinese overseas. China Daily estimates the demand for teachers will mean work for 5 million Chinese teachers outside of China by next year.

Critics include the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which described it as little more than a propaganda front, according to a 2007 article by The Canadian Press.

The Economist magazine reported that Hanban officials took the opportunity of the opening of a Confucius Institute at eth University of Maryland to criticize the Dalai Lama and to dismiss concerns about oppression in the tiny province of Tibet, declaring that Tibet has been "part of China since ancient times."

On the other hand, Confucius Institutes have received funding from the Pentagon in the United States as part of former President Bush's effort to encourage the study of "critical languages," The Economist added.

Be that as it may, the objective of the teachers coming to McDowell, Trollinger has stated, is to teach the Chinese language. He has said that Chinese students are routinely taught English and have been for a long time. China has emerged as a financial superpower, and is America's primary partner and competitor in business. Chinese, he said, is becoming one of the main languages of business.

"China is becoming the largest English-speaking nation on earth," he said, giving Chinese workers and business people a distinct advantage. Learning their language will be a step toward leveling that playing field.

The jobs of tomorrow, he stated, may well depend on a command of Chinese.

To Sinclair, that time may or may not come, but it is not the case now.

"Mandarin Chinese, sponsored by Hanban in Beijing, is not a tool that we need at this time," she said. But, she added, the deal is done. "It will be taught in the McDowell County School System," she said. "My colleagues on the board have spoken and I respect their decision."

Trollinger said kids will begin learning Chinese next year.

"We hope to have the program in place for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012- 13," he stated.