COVERITLIVE.COM

11:59

PressHerald.com - We've got incoming Portland Schools Superintendent James Morse here for your questions

12:00

PressHerald.com - We're dealing with a few last minute technical issues

12:01

PressHerald.com - If you have questions start submitting them now

12:04

Jim Morse - Good afternoon Portland

This is Dr Jim Morse speaking to you from the Portland Press Herald.

12:05

[Comment From Concerned parent ]
Yes, hi. how are you going to juggle the needs of the language programs without hurting kids who aren't in them?

12:07

Jim Morse - Balancing the needs of all children's needs is part of my responsibility. All children, whether English Language Learners or not, deserve a rigorous, challenging curriculum. It is about balancing resources so every child can learn at a challenging rate.

12:11

PressHerald.com - in today's story on the multicultural nature of the schools you talked about the untapped value of having a multilingual district. What did you mean by that?

12:18

James Morse - Children from different cultures bring life experiences that can bring vitality and reality to classroom discussions from a perspective that Portland children have not experienced. When a teacher is focused on a part of the world they've never visited and a student from that part of the world is sitting right in front of them there exists the potential to make that classroom far more exciting and real than the teacher or fellow students ever imagined. Cultural experiences, dance, the visual arts, literature all have the capacity to enrich a classroom far beyond the textbook. Youngest from away have the potential to make Portland classrooms far more enriching than in any other part of the state.

12:21

PressHerald.com - The School Committee voted to hire an administrator to develop a foreign language program for elementary students. Do you agree with that move?

12:25

James Morse - Yes, Portland students should have the opportunity to learn foreign languages while still in elementary school. We know young minds absorb new learning very quickly. Here we are in a city where 26% of the children are not native English speakers. How better to assist our students in understanding the world than by introducing them as early as possible to languages other than Englsih.

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