Use of English touchy subject here on border

BY BLAKE SCHMIDT, SUN STAFF WRITER

Mindy McClain has attended the same state-sponsored child-care training program for years.

But this year, when she signed up and paid her $20 fee, she was told that the program, which is funded through the Arizona Department of Economic Security, would be presented in Spanish instead of English for the first time. If she wanted to hear it in English, she would be provided with a translating device.

"I'm like, excuse me ... I don't think so," said McClain, the director of the Children's Center preschool in Yuma.

She and 10 other women demanded their money back and promised not to attend.

"I feel very offended," McClain said.

Since then, the DES has given in to pressure from McClain and a few others, and the program will be held in English, despite the fact that 85 percent of those attending will be Spanish-speaking caregivers, according to Lourdes Encinas, who helped organize the event.

"It's bad enough that with a bachelor's degree, I can't go out and get a well-paying job with benefits I'm qualified for because I don't speak Spanish in my own country," McClain said.