It’s good for Lee Academy to expand its enrollment by recruiting Chinese students and teaching English in China (BDN, Aug. 14). It’s good for the school, and they hope to fund a $2 million renovation. It’s also good for Chinese students who want to attend American universities, make contacts with American employers and get high paying jobs in America.

But I wish American academics were more concerned about preparing American kids for global competition. Our kids need to learn the languages, have the international experiences and make the contacts to help them be successful, competent and worldly. Just sitting next to Chinese students in their Maine classroom doesn’t do the job.

And we should expect the same openness and generosity for our kids that we extend to others. Let’s see a story about Maine kids attending high school in China, learning Chinese, attending Chinese universities, getting high paying jobs and starting successful businesses in China.

If politicians and academics want to convince us that globalization is good for Americans and that globalization is not colonization, then we need more evidence this is a two-way street. And we should be able to raise these questions without being accused of xenophobia or being overly America-centric.

Doris T. Watkins

Bangor