The Taos Municipal Board of Education on Wednesday narrowly approved sending an administrator to Spain this week to recruit bilingual teachers, but not before one board member worried about the difference between Spanish spoken in Spain and in northern New Mexico, The Taos News reported.

Director of Instruction Rose Martinez told board members she had been contacted on March 27 with the opportunity to go to Spain to recruit bilingual teachers as apart of a visiting teachers program organized by the state Department of Public Education and fully funded by the Spanish government, the News reported.

But board member Arsenio Cordova vigorously objected to sending Martinez, saying he was worried that teachers from outside New Mexico might not understand local students' needs, the paper said.

"I'm concerned that the Spanish that is spoken in Spain is very different from the 16th century New Mexico Spanish we speak here. The Spanish spoken in Spain is different even from what is spoken in Mexico," Cordova complained. "People who come here from out of the country are often critical of our students and get down on them, saying they don't know how to speak the language."

Cordova also worried that some bilingual teachers in Taos would be moved out of their jobs, but Martinez and Taos Schools Superintendent Loretta DeLong said the recruitment trip was in no way designed to put any Taos teacher out of a job, the paper said.

"I thought it was an honor to be chosen," Martinez told the school board. "If it is causing this much discord, I'd rather not go."

Fernando Martin, an adviser to the visiting teacher program, drew jeers from spectators when he said Taos schools would missing a great opportunity if Martinez weren't sent to Spain.

"The Spanish language is spoken by 400 million people. Each variety is as good as another," said Martin, who told the audience and board members of his experience as a visiting teacher in California.

"Yes, they laughed at my accent," Martin said. "But we had a great time because I learned how they spoke Spanish, and they learned how I speak Spanish. Spain is a mixture of so many civilizations, and we are proud of that." 

Cordova also objected when DeLong announced the airplane tickets to Spain had already been purchased, the News reported.

"This is a violation. I am incensed at this," Cordova said. "Out of state travel has to be approved by the board."

But in the end, the board voted 3-2 to send Martinez on the trip, which was scheduled to begin today, the News reported. 

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