ESL students, horseshoe crabs, commercial fishermen

ESL students are highly accomplished

The article on English language learners presented an excellent summary of Long Island public school districts’ programs, challenges, and accomplishments in teaching English to newly arrived immigrants [“Number of students learning English on LI increasing,” News, July 7]. Noteworthy too, are the many Long Island programs available for adult immigrant English learners.

I’ve been an English as a Second Language teacher for more than 30 years. Most of my students have come from Central America. It has been my experience that those who live on Long Island in the area where I teach work very hard: landscapers, restaurant workers, home and apartment cleaners, child care providers, construction workers, factory workers, supermarket workers, and hospital employees. Some of my students have been professionals in their own countries.

My ESL students are highly motivated to learn English. Some of my former students have done “well”: owner of a delicatessen, owner of a small engine repair shop, master automobile technician, service desk worker in a large supermarket, foreman of a road construction crew, and owner of a landscaping company. I’m so proud of them!

These folks are giving an excellent example to future generations.

— Chet Lukaszewski, Huntington

The writer is an adult learning instructor and has taught ESL classes for more than 30 years.

I was appalled to read the online headline “Number of English language learning students on Long Island jumps almost 60% in 10 years.” This is — either intentional or accidental — racist click bait, especially on such a historically racially segregated island.

Most people don’t read past headlines, and such wording invites racist rhetoric around the topics of immigration and Hispanic people here, who already suffer from institutional and interpersonal attacks on a daily basis.

We don’t need any more platforming of racial violence, through actions or headlines, against us.

— Cristina Arroyo Rodríguez, Valley Stream

Horseshoe crab ban would hurt fishermen

New York State has been managing horseshoe crab harvests for decades [“Legislature bans taking of horseshoe crabs,” News, June 11]. Currently, a permitted crabber may take no more that 200 horseshoe crabs per day. The total annual harvest limit by all crabbers is 150,000 crabs. Harvesting them during the lunar cycles in May and June, when horseshoe crabs come ashore to breed, is banned.

As a retired environmental conservation police officer, I know that environmental conservation officers spend hundreds of man-hours each year enforcing these regulations. New legislation proposing a total ban will impact commercial fishermen who depend upon horseshoe crabs to harvest eels and whelk, the latter species being a significant predator of clams and oysters at a time when much effort is being spent on increasing shellfish populations.

While both sides of the debate have valid points, taking away the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s ability to manage a marine species by unilaterally passing a ban based upon dubious labels like “vulnerable to extinction” sets a bad precedent for marine fisheries management in New York State.

— Timothy Huss, Islip

The writer is a retired DEC environmental conservation police officer.