Spanish-focused elementary school attacked with pro-Trump graffiti in California

[Judi Lynn]

Spanish-focused elementary school attacked with pro-Trump graffiti in California
International Business Times
25 Oct 2016 at 13:31 ET
Julia Glum
Posted with permission from International Business Times



Students and employees at a Spanish-focused elementary school spent Monday trying to avoid and clean up racist graffiti apparently inspired by Donald Trump. A door, a trash can and multiple walls at Cali Calmecac Language Academy in Windsor, California, were found vandalized with messages reading "Trump 2016" and "Build The Wall Higher," KPIX reported.

Cali Calmecac is a Spanish immersion school where three-quarters of the student population is Latino. "I know children are nervous about this. It is personal," principal Jeanne Acuña told the news station. "And, whether this is a prank or not, it crosses lines where it creates a terrifying situation for small children."

The graffiti appeared to reference one of the Republican presidential candidate's most prominent proposals: that the United States should build a literal wall along its border with Mexico in order to keep out illegal immigrants. Most of the markings were painted over or otherwise removed by the end of the day, but some parents continued to express concern.

"If it was just 'We hate Mexicans' or 'We hate Latinos' or 'We don’t want Spanish,' that would be one thing. But to write 'build the wall, build it higher,' that’s a direct reference to his terms," George Valenzuela, a Cali Calmecac dad and school board trustee up for re-election next month, told the Press Democrat. "I'm sure Trump didn't send a supporter to do this work at the school. I'm sure his campaign doesn’t know anything about it. But whoever did the vandalism is somehow swayed by his words."

More:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/spanish-focused-elementary-school-attacked-with-pro-trump-graffiti-in-california/

Good Reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016169143

[roody]

1. This is a dual-language immersion school.

It is a big and wonderful school. A dual-language program works best when the population is about half and half for the home language. Unfortunately the ratio gets skewed as the kids get older because if a fourth grade home English speaker leaves the program, it is hard to find a similar student that is fourth grade fluent in Spanish as well as English. Latinos are far more likely to be bilingual.