Parents lament end of DODEA elementary school Spanish language program

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The U.S. military’s school system is getting rid of a popular Spanish language program offered at dozens of its elementary schools overseas and stateside — and parents aren’t happy about it.

The Department of Defense Education Activity announced in school newsletters late last year that it was discontinuing its Foreign Language in the Elementary School — or FLES — at the end of the current school year.

The program cut is part of a larger cost-saving measure to trim some 300 teachers in DODEA, a move that will increase middle and high school class sizes and free up funds for other priorities, such as the continued rollout of new college and career-ready academic standards, DODEA officials have said.

Parents, meanwhile, have expressed disappointment with the decision in interviews with Stars and Stripes and on social media.

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/1.571241