Dear Mayor McGlynn, Members of the School Committee, and Mr. Belson,

We are all here for the same reason, because we are deeply committed to Medford and to our children's education and future in our community and the larger world. We are writing to you to address an area where we see a tremendous need for growth and change, that of the respect for Foreign Language’s status as a core academic subject and the scheduling of Foreign Language Classes in the high school. Foreign languages work at a deficit compared to other departments within our school and compared to comparable foreign language departments, in that they receive six fewer weeks of instruction in foreign language than they do in their other core subjects. We would appreciate it so much if we could work together toward a solution to this problem, one that as it stands, negatively affects our students' immediate learning and potentially affects their future potential as well.

During the economic downturn, the foreign language department was asked to make sacrifices, and we made those sacrifices. For example, some teachers taught six classes for years (compared to most faculty in other departments who teach four). It was difficult for these teachers, it was a trial, but we are extremely lucky to have a Foreign Language faculty that by and large puts their heart and soul into teaching despite multiple obstacles to our success. The middle school lost six teachers and the program has been crippled. As Ms. Van der Kloot said last year when the middle school program was eliminated, “When there is a problem, you don’t eliminate it. You fix it.” Please fix our program and prevent cuts that will further jeopardize our children. Without a strong middle school program our students will not have the opportunity to advance to AP.

Another issue we have within our department is the number of classes each teacher needs to prepare. Two is reasonable. Three is a lot. Four is clearly too much for any teacher. All of our teachers have taught four to five preps for many years, and their situation is unfortunately not at all unique within the department. In fact, one teacher in our department, the French teacher, teaches eight different preps: French 1, a combined French 2/ French 2 honors, French 3/French 3 honors and an impossible French 4/ 4 Honors/ 5 Ap. She wrote the AP syllabus last summer and she struggles to keep her head above water. This cannot be sustained, which a large part of the reason there is such a high turnover for her position. In the end, teachers can find other jobs, but students get what they get--and it is clearly less than what they deserve.

Another example of a struggle we have within the foreign language department is combining AP courses with Honors. This year there was a combined Spanish V Honors and AP Spanish. This does a huge disservice to the students who are preparing for the AP test. They have to share a classroom with students who are not as serious and who require extra attention from the teacher. Their time in the classroom is valuable and their daily flow was interrupted once a week for a science lab. No other school does this--again, our students are short changed.

However, regardless of the dedication and sacrifices of our teachers, when teachers are spread thin and students are getting less instruction hours than they are in other classes (and less than their peers in other schools in foreign language departments) the cracks in the system are going to show in a multitude of ways, the most important one being the impact on students. Our teachers give their all; there is no doubt. But when it is clear that their "best" can never be on par with what other classes get (for how do you make up thirty missing hours of instruction, no matter how good of a teacher you are? How do you teach four to eight preps really well and still have enough time to sleep at night?) it creates an atmosphere of frustration, anxiety and dejection for teachers, which isn't good for anyone. Teaching is documented to be one of the most stressful professions to begin with. Adding these kinds of burdens to our faculty must be avoided in the future, if at all possible, because it affects their ability to teach, and so it impacts our students.

With such amazing and dedicated teachers in our department, who have proven themselves time and time again, imagine what our students could accomplish compared to other schools who have not withstood the financial struggles we have? Imagine what our students could achieve if given a fair and equitable amount of instruction hours and are taught by teachers with a fair number of preps (2 or 3) and a reasonable number of classes (4)?

If all departments were equally burdened, it would be clear that there was no possible resolution to these issues. However, other departments, such as the math department, have classes with fewer than ten students while we struggle with an average of twenty five, and as many as thirty one in a single class. This doesn't take into consideration that we teach more classes than other faculty, and each of our students gets thirty less instruction hours per year than they do in other subjects due to the way the Foreign Language department is structured.

Below is a copy of the 2013 budget. We have asked for replacements of our textbooks from 1994, some of which have mold on them. We were refused. We have asked for an additional teacher to reduce the overall burden and previously we have been refused. We sincerely hope that the answers to these requests and others can change, and this coming year can be a year of positive change for the Foreign Language department, a year where students and faculty alike can approach their classes with pride!

As you can see from the attached budget, in the past we were allotted 1.66%. That number went down even further this year, stretching our resources even tighter. Many other departments had an inverse experience, in that their budgets were increased, and they are already more than twice our budget to begin with. Though we understand that every department has a wish list, it is hard for us in the Foreign Language Department to understand how our needs are not being given priority under the circumstances, considering that they are comparatively so great. In speaking to many faculty in a variety of departments, it is clear that there is a lot of sympathy for the struggles of the foreign language department across the board, and most, if not all faculty would be extremely understanding of a shift within the budget to benefit Foreign Language.

Foreign language is a core academic subject as defined by both the Department of Education and The Medford Teacher Association Contract. What we are asking is that it be treated similarly to other core subjects when curriculum needs are considered. Please help us to do our jobs well and improve our working conditions so that we can create programs and learning environments where students are given the absolute best. We know that you want to help students as much as we do. Below is a list of items that we feel would best help the Foreign Language Department get back on track. We hope you will consider meeting all of these very reasonable and equitable requests, in the name of helping the students--the student body that matters so much to each and every one of us.

Thank you so much for your consideration,

The Foreign Language Department
Medford Public Schools
Medford, MA

The tenured members of the Foreign Language Department in alphabetical order:
Saioa Diez

Elizabeth Gómez

Nélida Lepore

Felisabeth Pancheri

Michael Skorker

Requests:
1. Additional teacher
2. Revised schedules so that teachers teach four classes each
3. An increase in the budget so that Foreign Language is treated like other Core Curriculum Subjects
4. New Textbooks