ENGLISH CLASSES

ACCESS TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES IS A SCARCE RESOURCE IN MONTANA. INDIVIDUALS SEEKING TO LEARN THE LANGUAGE MUST TYPICALLY BEAR THE COST OF HIRING A PRIVATE TUTOR, WHICH CAN BE EXTREAMELY EXPENSIVE DUE TO HIGH DEMAND.

ADDITIONALLY, THE PRIORITIZATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION BY COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES IS NOT A PROMINENT FEATURE ON THEIR AGENDAS. CONSEQUENTLY, COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO SEEK TO OFFER THESE SERVICES OFTEN RELY ON PERSONAL NETWORKS TO DISSEMINATE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR AVAILABILITY, AND SUCH SERVICES ARE TYPICALLY PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE THROUGH VOLUNTARY EFFORTS.

IN "BORDERLANDS/LA FRONTERA: THE NEW MESTIZA," ANZALDÚA CRITIQUES THE EDUCATION SYSTEM AND ITS TREATMENT OF CHICANO/LATINO STUDENTS SHE ARGUES THAT EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES PERPETUATES THE CULTURAL HEGEMONY OF THE DOMINANT SOCIETY AND FAILS TO VALIDATE THE EXPERIENCES AND CULTURES OF MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES WHILE THE GENERAL EXPERIENCES OF LATINOS IN MONTANA MAY NOT ALIGN COMPLETELY WITH ANZALDÚA'S SCHOLARLY AND UNIVERSITY VISION OF EDUCATION, IT IS TRUE THAT ACCESS TO EDUCATION, EVEN SOMETHING AS BASIC AS ENGLISH CLASSES, IS LIMITED FOR LATINOS IN MONTANA, WHO LACK POWER WITHIN THE DOMINANT WHITE CULTURE.