California’s demographics are changing. It’s time to start wondering whether our schools should catch up.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 32 percent of children in California ages 5 to 17 speak Spanish at home. This number has been growing, and if the fact that a greater percentage of children than adults speak Spanish at home is any indication, the percentage of Spanish-speaking households will continue to grow.

Spanish is still a minority language, and 86.2 percent of those children who speak Spanish at home also speak English “well” or “very well,” according to the census. However, the fact that the use of Spanish dwarfs the use of any other non-English language and it's use is on the rise begs the question of bilingual education.

The real contest isn’t between Spanish and English. English is undeniably the most useful language in America. But most public high schools require students to take a foreign language. In California, Spanish is more useful than French, German, Japanese, Mandarin or any other foreign language simply by virtue of being more widely spoken.

The University of California system requires two years of foreign-language credit to qualify for admission and recommends three.
Then why not require, in California high schools, two years of Spanish in high school or passage of a Spanish proficiency test?

California is best served by employees who can speak Spanish. Receptionists, nurses and doctors at California hospitals now need a proficiency in Spanish. Knowledge of Spanish is incredibly useful in any kind of public or social work -- even the White House has caught on and translates the president’s addresses into Spanish on its Web site. Isn’t it in the state’s best interest to teach all kids the language?

I suggest this with the knowledge that such a requirement is not, at the moment, politically viable. Requiring public school students to become proficient in English and Spanish is a lot to ask in a state where national standardized-test scores rank as the third-lowest in the nation, according to a 2005 report by the RAND Corp. However, that isn’t reason enough to at least examine the possibility.

What if “I went to a public high school in California” were to some day mean “I speak Spanish” for all people, regardless of race or family origin? The rise of the use of Spanish is an opportunity to unite this state’s past with its future in a beneficial blend of California cultures.

Rachel Wolf is a senior at Palo Alto High School. Her column, “Wolf Bytes,” is published on this blog the first Monday of every month.