If you build it, they will come. And then you shut it down.

What is it with school districts and Mandarin immersion? They are thrilled to get these programs when they first launch because they pull in families from all over. 

But then the programs get hugely popular- so what’s the first reaction?

To shut them down, of course!

(Sorry, I just get so frustrated with this. I feel like I’ve seen this happen again and again.)

Now it’s Chapel Hill in North Carolina. They created a Mandarin immersion program and it’s so wildly popular that the school’s got 50 more students than it was built for.

So what’s one of the suggestions? Of course — end the immersion program and shift it to a regular Chinese class. 

Which isn’t to say that’s what the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will end up decided to do, but the idea that it’s even been suggested is just crazy to me. You have a program that’s popular, that’s thriving and that’s bringing students to your district. So you want to eviscerate it so you don’t have that particular problem (of having such a popular program) any more.

LAUSD tried it with the program at Broadway Elementary in Los Angeles. SFUSD tried it with the program at Aptos middle school in San Francisco. 

It remains a mystery to me.

I hope the Chapel Hill program survives…