Buffalo's Latino community leaders turned out yesterday to welcome new Schools Superintendent Pamela Brown, welcoming a school leader who speaks Spanish and has taught in Spanish.
They hope she can invigorate a bilingual education program involving 5,000 students and a constantly-increasing array of languages spoken by city students.
As the immigrant population grows, it's believed as many as 70 languages are spoken in city schools.
Those students are required to take State Regents tests almost immediately and their weak scores drag down overall city student scores.
Brown says it isn't just that she speaks Spanish but she has worked in it.
"I've implemented bilingual programs. I've been a bilingual teacher," said Brown.
"I think that experience, in addition to speaking Spanish and some French, helps me to have a deeper understanding as to what the best educational solutions are for the children who are learning English as a second language. "
Brown studied Spanish at Stanford and did overseas study in Spain's University of Salamanca.
