The Palo Alto Unified School District in Silicon Valley , 35 miles south of San Francisco decided early January 31 against a plan for Mandarin language immersion, citing practical concerns as well as whether the classes would give the small group of students in them an unfair advantage. About 17 percent of Palo Alto's population is Asian, according to the most recent census statistics
The proposal, which was voted down 3 to 2 after a marathon six-hour meeting of the district school board, would have established two classes taught mostly in Mandarin -- the world's most spoken language, used by nearly one billion Chinese -- to 40 kindergarten and first-grade students at a local elementary school.
Grace Mah, a second-generation Chinese-American and the founder of Palo Alto Chinese Education, which lobbied for the program, was disappointed by the vote and said that her group might now try to start a charter school devoted to Mandarin.
The most recent plan was proposed to the board in December and then modified earlier this month. If approved, Palo Alto would have joined two other Bay Area cities with Chinese language immersion programs in schools. They are Cupertino, a Silicon Valley neighbor, and San Francisco, which has two Mandarin immersion programs and five in Cantonese, another Chinese dialect. (Source: Jesse McKinley, The New York Times, Feb 1, 2007).