It's always like that, isn't it?

In Washington state, in Yakima at any rate, dual-language instruction is going away:

National studies show that elementary students who become bilingual begin to outperform other students by the time they reach the seventh grade. But in Wapato -- where 67 percent of students are Latino -- test scores and school grades for those students haven't been so good, school administrators say.

On Sept. 1, the Wapato School District scrapped all dual-language classes, saying students in those classes lag behind others in meeting state and federal performance standards. Now, students who need help with language are receiving instruction in English, with help in Spanish, only as needed.

(That's an unfortunate comma, isn't it?)

Meanwhile, in Maryland, Silver Spring school authorities love their dual-language program.

"It's a long-term investment. On early assessments of English reading skills, they often don't perform well. But by the time they hit third grade, when they begin to take the English-only Maryland School Assessment exams, many have caught up." ...The school reached state standards for academic progress last year, and 85.7 percent of its fifth-graders -- including students not in the dual-language program -- earned proficient scores on the state's reading exam, according to state data. Of the students in the dual-language program, a greater percentage passed, school officials said.

"One of the things I'm most proud of with our program is it's not just for the upper-middle-class parents," Starnes said. "We're seeing neighborhood kids, African American kids . . . a group of kids whose families do not normally access this."

It seems to boil down to a question of what's important: scores or students. In Washington, one administrator thinks the latter:

In Grandview, which is similar to Wapato in size and demographics, helping students become bilingual through dual-language classes outweighs concern about early academic benchmarks, said Assistant Superintendent Minerva Morales. She said there's proof these students excel in middle and high school and have sufficient time to meet state standards for graduation.

But at the school in question,

"They can't make progress as fast," said Wapato's Director of Bilingual Education Dave Juarez. "We don't have the time and resources to teach kids Spanish when we have to meet (academic) benchmarks."

And then you've got this guy:

But Max Golladay, chairman of the Yakima County Republican Central Committee, isn't a fan of dual-language education at the expense of taxpayers.

"I understand some of the problems children face when they don't speak English and aren't from an English-speaking family," he said. "But I don't see how it becomes society's problem."

Really, Max? A permanently under-educated underclass isn't society's problem? Or are you just thinking about your lawn?