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The Republican, MA
April 15 2007
Immigrants face loss of classes
Sunday, April 15, 2007By ALEX PESHKOV [email protected]
BOSTON - Serpil Durdu has 14 years of experience working as a nurse
in Turkey. Now living in Ludlow, she moved to the United States in
2003 hoping to continue her nursing career.
"But first, I need to learn English well enough, and I am so lucky to
be able to take the language classes" at the Ludlow Area Adult
Learning Center, the 36-year-old said.
Her classmate, Marine Kirakosian, 38, also of Ludlow, joined the
group in November after waiting for a vacancy for about a year.
"The course means so much to me," said Kirakosian who came from St.
Petersburg, Russia, three years ago, following her husband, the Rev.
Peter Shetelian, the priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who was
sent to serve in Western Massachusetts.
"It's not just about the language, which is very important, of
course, but this is also a place for us to socialize, to share our
stories and experience and learn about American culture," she said.
"I can't imagine leaving the class right now,"
However, Kirakosian said, she's afraid that her class might be
canceled.
On the eve of Immigrant Day, which was celebrated for the 11th time
at the Statehouse Thursday, came the news of a possible $5 million
budget cut in adult education programs.
The $27 million budget recommendation for those programs submitted by
the House is $2 million less than recommended by the governor and $5
million below current levels, said Barbara Paul of Lutheran Community
Services.
Thursday morning Durdu, Kirakosian and some other 100 Western
Massachusetts immigrant students boarded buses in West Springfield,
Ludlow and Northampton to travel to Boston to participate in the
Interfaith Summit for Immigrant Justice at the Statehouse where they
told their stories and voiced concerns.
Hundreds of immigrants gathered at the historic building for the
celebration sponsored by Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy
Coalition. Virtually every speaker discussed the importance of
learning English and of their willingness to find a job as soon as
possible.
"Just in January we started additional classes for our program, which
is being offered in partnership with Holyoke Community College," said
Kermit Dunkelberg, program coordinator at Ludlow Center.
"We have people from 17 different countries," he said. "We still have
some 50 people on a waiting list at our center, and now, with the
proposed budget, we are looking at canceling some of the classes.
They all want to be able to communicate well enough to land a job."
"They are people from all over the world," said Paul, whose
grandparents came to America from Ukraine. "Some of them have been
living here for 25 years. Some of them came here just a couple of
weeks ago, but all of them want to contribute to this country. They
want to get a job, to raise a family, and learning the language is
the first step in achieving that goal."
"They are all legal immigrants, yet often they don't get fair
treatment in terms of education or job opportunities," she said.
There are more than 300,000 legal immigrants in Massachusetts who are
eligible or in the process of naturalization to become U.S. citizens,
a journey that can take from five to 15 years, according to the
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.
Limited funding for language and civics classes, Paul said, is a
waste of highly skilled workers.
"Investing in them is investing in the state's work force," she said.
April 15 2007
Immigrants face loss of classes
Sunday, April 15, 2007By ALEX PESHKOV [email protected]
BOSTON - Serpil Durdu has 14 years of experience working as a nurse
in Turkey. Now living in Ludlow, she moved to the United States in
2003 hoping to continue her nursing career.
"But first, I need to learn English well enough, and I am so lucky to
be able to take the language classes" at the Ludlow Area Adult
Learning Center, the 36-year-old said.
Her classmate, Marine Kirakosian, 38, also of Ludlow, joined the
group in November after waiting for a vacancy for about a year.
"The course means so much to me," said Kirakosian who came from St.
Petersburg, Russia, three years ago, following her husband, the Rev.
Peter Shetelian, the priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who was
sent to serve in Western Massachusetts.
"It's not just about the language, which is very important, of
course, but this is also a place for us to socialize, to share our
stories and experience and learn about American culture," she said.
"I can't imagine leaving the class right now,"
However, Kirakosian said, she's afraid that her class might be
canceled.
On the eve of Immigrant Day, which was celebrated for the 11th time
at the Statehouse Thursday, came the news of a possible $5 million
budget cut in adult education programs.
The $27 million budget recommendation for those programs submitted by
the House is $2 million less than recommended by the governor and $5
million below current levels, said Barbara Paul of Lutheran Community
Services.
Thursday morning Durdu, Kirakosian and some other 100 Western
Massachusetts immigrant students boarded buses in West Springfield,
Ludlow and Northampton to travel to Boston to participate in the
Interfaith Summit for Immigrant Justice at the Statehouse where they
told their stories and voiced concerns.
Hundreds of immigrants gathered at the historic building for the
celebration sponsored by Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy
Coalition. Virtually every speaker discussed the importance of
learning English and of their willingness to find a job as soon as
possible.
"Just in January we started additional classes for our program, which
is being offered in partnership with Holyoke Community College," said
Kermit Dunkelberg, program coordinator at Ludlow Center.
"We have people from 17 different countries," he said. "We still have
some 50 people on a waiting list at our center, and now, with the
proposed budget, we are looking at canceling some of the classes.
They all want to be able to communicate well enough to land a job."
"They are people from all over the world," said Paul, whose
grandparents came to America from Ukraine. "Some of them have been
living here for 25 years. Some of them came here just a couple of
weeks ago, but all of them want to contribute to this country. They
want to get a job, to raise a family, and learning the language is
the first step in achieving that goal."
"They are all legal immigrants, yet often they don't get fair
treatment in terms of education or job opportunities," she said.
There are more than 300,000 legal immigrants in Massachusetts who are
eligible or in the process of naturalization to become U.S. citizens,
a journey that can take from five to 15 years, according to the
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.
Limited funding for language and civics classes, Paul said, is a
waste of highly skilled workers.
"Investing in them is investing in the state's work force," she said.