Make English NJ’s official language

The latest battlefield of logic versus great offense is Cliffside Park High School. A teacher there has been accused of being close-minded, inappropriate, and downright racist. Watch the video if you're late to this story. It's hard to make out, but in a classroom where she was tired of so many students speaking to each other in Spanish she said, “Men and women are fighting. They are not fighting for your right to speak Spanish. They are fighting for your right to speak American."

Yes, 'American' is not a language. But pay attention to her point and not how she awkwardly phrased it in a moment of exasperation. A teacher should not have to deal with side conversations among students speaking another language when they're capable of speaking English. In this article by Sergio Bichao on this case, it is pointed out that there is no official language of the United States. Although many feel there should be. Then his story brings up the following.

In Trenton, state Sens. Anthony R. Bucco, R-Morris, and Steven Oroho, R-Sussex, have introduced a bill that would simply declare English the official language of the state.

I was greatly intrigued and looked up the bill online, which you can see here. It is one of the shortest pieces of legislation I've seen. It simply states that English would be the official language of New Jersey but without spelling out what the ramifications would be. Perhaps that would come in the technical review process. What it should mean is that tax dollars aren't spent for printing costs of government forms in Spanish and many other languages. It should mean that you aren't allowed to take your driver's test in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, German, or Russian any longer. Only English. It should mean professional educators aren't barred from jobs for not being able to teach in Spanish. Trust me, this happens a lot. It should mean hospitals aren't required to have interpreters on hand to decipher dozens of different languages.

If by declaring English as the official language of New Jersey we could save even a few hundred thousand dollars then it would be well worth it. By offering government services in many different languages we are removing incentives for immigrants to achieve full assimilation in this country. If they won't declare English the official language of the United States we should at least declare it the official language of New Jersey.

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