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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Chamber of Commerce president: visa shortages damaging high tech, agriculture
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue on Wednesday urged Congress “to act immediately to address pressing visa shortages that are today damaging industries from high tech to agriculture.”
In a speech in Phoenix, Donohue also said that state and local immigration ordinances, designed to crack down on illegal immigrants, are “often contradictory, probably unconstitutional, and impossible for businesses to follow.”
He also said that the Chamber would continue to challenge such ordinances in court.
“Legal immigration is more than just a social value — it is an economic necessity,” Donohue said. “The United States is producing more jobs than workers, and we need immigrants at all skill levels to balance the equation if we are to remain an economic superpower.”
To read the entire speech, click here.
Free iPods to help students learn English
While many schools are banning iPods, a district in Hudson County New Jersey is handing out the portable digital players to help bilingual students with limited English ability sharpen their vocabulary and grammar by singing along to popular songs, the New York Times reported this week.
Grace Poli, a media specialist at Jose Marti Middle School in the district, said her Spanish-speaking students have been able to move out of bilingual classes after just a year of using the iPods, compared with an average of four to six years for most bilingual students, the Times said.
The effort is garnering nationwide attention.
To read more, click here.