Dear Commons Community,

The Associated Press is reporting  that New York City mayoral candidate Bill Thompson conceded the Democratic primary race to front-runner Bill de Blasio earlier today, averting a potential runoff and clearing the way for de Blasio to campaign for the general election.

Thompson endorsed de Blasio at City Hall, saying he was proud to support him as the party’s nominee.

The potential runoff had loomed as another act in the Democratic drama over choosing a successor to three-term Mayor Michael Bloomberg – a fight that would keep Democrats tilting at each other while Republicans and independents looked ahead to the general election. With Thompson, the Democrats’ 2009 mayoral nominee, out of the race, de Blasio will face Republican nominee Joe Lhota on Nov. 5.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo played a role in brokering the deal, according to two people familiar with Thompson’s decision who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, who supported Thompson said he’s now backing de Blasio.

“Clearly we need to change direction,” Mulgrew said, citing the explosion in the number of kids in homeless shelters. “Something is horribly wrong in [this] city.”

Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota has said he would continue current Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s education policies.

“That’s all I need to know once I hear that,” Mulgrew said, explaining his support for de Blasio.

The mayoral race is now on!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

A critical issue in many school districts with large numbers of English language learners (ELL) is what type of academic program would be most appropriate for them.  Most school districts opt for an English immersion program that prepares them to do all of their school work in English over a bilingual program that would allow them to study subject matter in both English and the home language.

A recent study at Penn State concluded that bilingual education is beneficial stating that bilinguals with the ability to switch languages seamlessly have likely developed a higher level of mental flexibility than people who only speak one language, researchers at Penn State said Tuesday in a press statement.

“In the past, bilinguals were looked down upon,” Professor of Psychology, Linguistics and Women’s Studies Judith F. Kroll said in a press statement. “Not only is bilingualism not bad for you, it may be really good. When you’re switching languages all the time it strengthens your mental muscle and your executive function becomes enhanced.”

Researchers performed two experiments on English and Spanish speakers to assess whether both languages were active in their minds at all times. In the first, subjects read 512 sentences in either English or Spanish, switching between the two every two sentences, and had to read cognates out load in red as quickly and accurately as possible. The subjects rarely tripped up. The linguists then performed the same experiment, one language at a time, with similar results.

The study is part of a growing body of evidence upending the traditional view that growing up bilingual hindered cognitive development.

Tony