Immigrants need ESL classes, people complain constantly that immigrants refuse to learn English, which is rarely true, yet budget cuts are closing classes. Maybe every one of us should volunteer to help just one immigrant learn English. - - Donna Poisl
Steady drop in funding forces cutbacks
By Antonio Olivo | Tribune reporter
After 20 years of sporadic English classes, Esperanza Marrufo still stumbles over the language, exasperated when unable to find the right word.
"Part of my problem is ... I can't express myself!" said Marrufo, 43, in her native Spanish. "I want to keep practicing so I can enter fully into American society."
Though that desire is shared by thousands of immigrants -- even as critics often chastise them for not integrating quickly enough -- opportunities to learn English are harder to come by in Illinois, according to a study released Monday.
From 2002 to 2008, the number of English as a Second Language slots funded by the state dropped by 20 percent to 69,700, according to the report by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
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