A FLAP Develops Over Mandatory Arabic Classes in Texas

By Doug Powers  •  February 8, 2011 02:24 PM

**Written by Doug Powers

If one of the main goals of the Department of Education is to educate parents on why they might want to consider the option of private or home schooling, then mission accomplished:

MANSFIELD (CBSDFW.COM) – Some Students at Mansfield ISD schools could soon be learning Arabic as a required language. The school district wants students at select schools to take Arabic language and culture classes as part of a federally funded grant.

The Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant was awarded to Mansfield ISD last summer by the U.S. Department of Education.

As part of the five-year $1.3 million grant, Arabic classes would be mandatory at Cross Timbers Intermediate School and Kenneth Davis Elementary School. The program would also be optional for students at T. A. Howard Middle School and Summit High School.

Parents at Cross Timbers say they were caught off-guard by the program, and were surprised the district only told them about it in a meeting Monday night between parents and Mansfield ISD Superintendent Bob Morrison.

The DOE has identified Arabic as a ‘language of the future.’ But parent Joseph Balson was frustrated by the past. “Why are we just now finding out about it?” asked Balson. “It’s them (Mansfield ISD) applying for the grant, getting it approved and them now saying they’ll go back and change it only when they were caught trying to implement this plan without parents knowing about it.”

According to a posting at the school’s website, this is a vital component in being able to compete in the 21st century.

Presumably the students have already mastered English and, of course, Spanish, so they can move on to Arabic:

In 2009 a FLAP grant went to a school in Oklahoma, which used the money for Chinese language education. Now that makes more sense because someday the kids will need to communicate with the people who are repossessing the country because it was borrowed-and-spent into oblivion with things like FLAP grants.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

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Comments


  1. #101
    On February 8th, 2011 at 7:40 pm, granite said:

    On February 8th, 2011 at 5:46 pm, Hangfire said:

    1. The operative word was “M A N D A T O R Y.”
    That’s why we’re enraged.

    Exactly.

  2. #102
    On February 8th, 2011 at 8:17 pm, Hangfire said:

    What grieves me is that this treachery is spawned, not in California, not in New York, not in Massachusetts, but in

    T E X A S ??

    Have we already lost this great conflict?

  3. #103
    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:08 pm, 24Klady said:

    Actually, I can show you a mosque right off the convergence of the I-183 and the I-121 where city police direct traffic on a Friday night. It is a combo of Pakis, Indians, Afghanis and a miriad of other ethic groups. There are far more of them in No. Texas than anyone wants to admit. Right across the street is a Paki owned strip mall with a grocery store, small shops for chatzkies and a small restaurant. The autos are flashy expensive, and the drivers have an attitude. I keep asking why we are in need of so many from one part of the world, and how do they afford the areas they’re living in Texas? Our govn’t keeps failing to tell us why we need so many immigrants from the muzzie world.

    I’ve no idea how many live in Mansfield, but it’s a question we need to be asking.

  4. #104
    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:10 pm, Trollman said:

    Hangfire said:

    What grieves me is that this treachery is spawned, not in California, not in New York, not in Massachusetts, but in

    T E X A S ??

    Have we already lost this great conflict?

    Hangfire, there is a certain percentage of liberal wack-os just about everywhere. In a place as big as Texas, there are bound to be some of them.

    Take the entire city of Austin. Please.

  5. #105
    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:22 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:10 pm, Trollman said:

    Hangfire, there is a certain percentage of liberal wack-os just about everywhere. In a place as big as Texas, there are bound to be some of them.

    It’ll be much harder now that Texas, just as California has learned, is the big magnet for immigration from bankrupt blue states. They are going to be voting differently from what you guys are used to and there are now a lot more of them.

    Good luck with that. The GOP looks for every opportunity to lurch to the left and you will probably learn that in these situations, the GOP is your biggest obstacle. You might learn what it feels like to be among many conservatives in CA without a party as your state goes down the tubes.

  6. #106
    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:23 pm, Dandapani said:

    It is said that one can only fully understand the Koran if read in the original Arabic. Aum.

  7. #107
    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:38 pm, 24Klady said:

    There is a recent article in the LA Times about the number of illegal muslims that have crossed the border from Mexico to Texas, paying big $$ to do so. Haven’t seen anything about it in local news? JNap is spinning a web of deceit about the border being ‘the safest it’s ever been’ and we’re all at risk because of it. No health screenings, no background checks, and where do they get all their money?

  8. #108
    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:48 pm, astonerii said:

    Remember people, Texas has a large super liberal enclave in and around it’s capitol city. So do not act surprised when something liberal comes from there. The fortunate attribute about Texas is that it is HUGE and has several very large populated areas that are completely conservative.

  9. #109
    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:50 pm, Lindsay said:

    ?Que? (that is really and upside-down ? as I am speaking Espanol…curly-q-thing over the n in that word… on a non-biligual keyboard).WWLRD (what would La Raza do about this issue?).

    How do you say FUBAR in Arabic?

    Also [all these questions could be due to delirium from sinus stuff and coughing for days]…do these Arabs irritate the crap out of Hispanics yammering to each other in Farsi in Texas? I am barely able to handle the urge to screech “speak English” while in stores in Florida as it is RUDE and I am now SHOUTING. Adios and buenas noches.

  10. #110
    On February 8th, 2011 at 9:56 pm, RedDog said:

    The ass-kicking cannot begin soon enough.

  11. #111
    On February 8th, 2011 at 10:01 pm, RedDog said:

    Once again people, this is why the Federal government must be hamstrung with a 15% of GDP balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. The only way to kill this cancer is to starve it of money. This kind of thing (and every other Leftist enticement) cannot occur without taxpayer giveaways. You want to kill the unions? This is the best way to do it.

  12. #112
    On February 8th, 2011 at 10:51 pm, AmericaFirst said:

    You can’t learn the language without learning the culture. Promote Caliphate to unite the home school kids with their Mansfield ISD Dhimmitude masters. Build a few dome structures in the playground sand box. Then perform Suzanne Somers exercises toward Mecca.

    We need Conservatives to begin running for school boards. Command a platform that will never allow degrading cultures to prevail in the classroom. Back to the basics.

  13. #113
    On February 8th, 2011 at 10:58 pm, William said:

    From the article excerpt included in the opening thread:

    ” … The DOE has identified Arabic as a ‘language of the future. … ”

    which “future” is that?

    One dominated by Islam, with Arabic as the International-Global language?

    How can one of the most often spoken languages in an area of the world which has a history or barbaric behavior for centuries be sold as “The Language of the Future?”

    If we had “leaders” in the USA who had Conservative, Constitutional values and stuck to them, English would be the language of the future.

    If one wishes to be involved in international commerce and speak languages aside from English, then Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and Toi san va Chinese, Hindi, Punjabi, and Spanish make more sense.

    After that, Japanese, Russian, and Korean make a lot of sense, and, as Brazil is doing rather well these days, Brazilian Portuguese is a good idea.

    When travelling, one would be able to understand terrorists when they speak Farsi or Arabic, so, in that case, knowing Arabic and Farsi would help.

  14. #114
    On February 9th, 2011 at 1:29 am, Jet Jaguar said:

    We live very near Mansfield. They are in our high school’s (Granbury) UIL district. I can guarantee you that Sharia won’t be coming around here for a LONG time.

  15. #115
    On February 9th, 2011 at 8:29 am, ITookTheRedPill said:

    The DOE has identified Arabic as a ‘language of the future.’

    The Democratic Socialist Islamists are trying to “Seize the future”…

  16. #116
    On February 9th, 2011 at 9:08 am, sbw999 said:

    That’s fine. But first make each person that voted for this idiotic requirement reside in their favorite arabic nation for one year, with wife and children, in which they must adhere to local religious and cultural rules. You’d see this requirement go down like the Titanic.

  17. #117
    On February 9th, 2011 at 9:15 am, Roland said:

    If they were going to teach the kids what was wrong with Arab ‘culture’/shariah/Islam, and why our culture and our Constitution should be defended to the death, then I would think it might be a good idea.

    However, that is not how it will be taught. That is not a guess. It is a certainty.

    Also, this is a good example of why top down ‘education’ coming from the federal government is, and always was, a horrible idea.

    The Department of Education should be abolished. It’s just a wing of the Propaganda Ministry.

  18. #118
    On February 9th, 2011 at 9:27 am, Dexter Alarius said:

    The DOE has identified Arabic as a ‘language of the future.’

    So, they’re surrendering. Isn’t this about like declaring German a ‘language of the future’ in 1943.

  19. #119
    On February 9th, 2011 at 9:36 am, spaceycakes said:

    123upnorth said: If I get banned, it’s been nice knowing everyone.

    if I didn’t get the boot for comment #1, I think you’re safe.

  20. #120
    On February 9th, 2011 at 10:36 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    In answer to your comment #1 Spacey, the vaseline did not survive the budget cut.

  21. #121
    On February 9th, 2011 at 11:07 am, spaceycakes said:

    aw man, I guess it’s back to lard! Oh wait, Muslims don’t touch the swine…

  22. #122
    On February 9th, 2011 at 12:15 pm, rocketman said:

    ***
    HI SPACEYCAKES–#1, #121. Yes–the Patrona cuts a lot of slack for most comments. Unlike Hotair–I still can’t figure out which of my snide comments got me the boot there. It’s still good reading.
    ***
    Keep it clean.
    ***
    John Bibb
    ***

  23. #123
    On February 9th, 2011 at 12:30 pm, right_on said:
    How do you say FUBAR in Arabic?

    Here you go….

    مارس الجنس وراء كل الاعتراف!

    A common phrase in Farsi is, “فاک آن همه! ” (pronounced gaa e daam,) which, when translated, means, “F___ it all!”

  24. #124
    On February 9th, 2011 at 12:52 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    On February 9th, 2011 at 11:07 am, spaceycakes said:
    aw man, I guess it’s back to lard! Oh wait, Muslims don’t touch the swine…

    Vincent: Want some bacon?
    Jules: No man, I don’t eat pork.
    Vincent: Are you Jewish?
    Jules: Nah, I ain’t Jewish, I just don’t dig on swine, that’s all.
    Vincent: Why not?
    Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don’t eat filthy animals.
    Vincent: Bacon tastes gooood. Pork chops taste gooood.
    Jules: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I’d never know ’cause I wouldn’t eat the filthy mother@#$%er. Pigs sleep and root in sh!t. That’s a filthy animal. I ain’t eat nothin’ that ain’t got sense enough to disregard its own feces.
    Vincent: How about a dog? Dogs eats its own feces.
    Jules: I don’t eat dog either.
    Vincent: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?
    Jules: I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
    Vincent: Ah, so by that rationale, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?
    Jules: Well we’d have to be talkin’ about one charming mother@#$%in’ pig. I mean he’d have to be ten times more charmin’ than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I’m sayin’?

  25. #125
    On February 9th, 2011 at 2:24 pm, FirstSkirt said:

    Rogue…as always, good for the laugh, and I appreciate it after always hearing about Mr. BadnewsObama.

  26. #126
    On February 9th, 2011 at 5:40 pm, txvet2 said:

    In any event, as predicted, they’re rapidly backing water.

  27. #127
    On February 10th, 2011 at 1:19 pm, Rorschach said:

    It is probably connected to this:
    http://www.gokoogle.com/newsdetail.php?id=127

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