I just found out my kid's kindergarten class is teaching Russian 40 mins per day.

[W_HAMILTON]

150. You misunderstand then.

And, no, it is not echoing "English only." Don't accuse good, long-time DUers of essentially being MAGA types. Don't do that.

It is pointing out, as you rightfully note, that over half of adult Americans cannot even read at a sixth-grade level and wanting to use what limited resources we have to address that problem rather than teaching kindergarteners Russian.

I am all for learning new languages and all for including more than just English in our everyday society, but I am also very aware that English will be the predominant language these children are exposed to for the rest of their lives and want them to succeed rather than adding them to that 50%+ figure. As the original poster even noted, this isn't even some long-term curriculum, it is essentially a rotating session that is merely temporary. Whatever Russian language they learned, they almost certainly will forget all but a few handful of words in a few years. So then the question is, was it really the best use of resources and time to teach them Russian in kindergarten? When they have so much to learn and so much that they could be preparing for in their future years as a student?