Why Bilingual Education in California is delayed

As California approaches its goal in 2030 to have 1600 dual -language immersion programs in public schools and state defenders call for a more ambitious vision, legislators have pumped funding brakes.

In 2021 the legislature created a A $ 10 million grant program To help schools expand dual language programs over the last three years, but now there are no money. The only bill before the legislature this session would make the state spend only half of this one over the next three years, with this $ 5 million buying or creating books and other learning materials in languages ​​other than English.

Konor Williams, a senior associate at the Foundation of the Century and an Educational Policy Expert, is a critic of a limited investment in California in dual languages ​​dipping programs where students spend part of their English language day and part of the day learning in another language. He said the new grant program “feels a bit like replacing the windshield wipers when you have a flat tire – or two flat tires. You can repair them, but you don’t go anywhere until you turn to the tires. ”

Double -swaying programs have become sought after by parents of all origin who want their children to become bilingual. During the 2023-24 school year, 1075 schools were enrolled in such programs, according to data from the California Department of Education, which set the state on the way to meet with it The purpose of 2030S The Education Department especially encourages schools to offer these programs to immigrants children because research shows They help students learn English better and faster, close gaps in academic achievements and lead to many useful long-term results.

Defenders like Williams want many more children in this group to have access to bilingual education. However, the data received from the education department show that only 10% of English trainees were in some kind of bilingual program during the school year 2023-24.

In order to obtain a meaningful part of these children bilingual education, the state needs many more teachers. Still, there is no bills that this session does not appreciate to cope with the bilingual shortage of teachers.

“It’s almost like gas in the tank,” Williams said, continuing with his analogy. “You just can’t do what everyone in California says they want to do in California until you fix the problem with the teacher’s path.”

Slow progress, strict finances

Global California 2030 predicts that the state will have 90 approved bilingual programs for the preparation of teachers by 2025 and yet, according to the State Committee on Teacher Identification Conditions, There are only 48S

As CalMatters reported in DecemberState anemic proposals for bilingual education are a direct result of banning such programs from 1998 to 2016 and the inability of the state to create a systematic restoration from then.

Recognizing the strict state finances during this budget year, the defenders did not insist on major initiatives. But Asians are progressing justice worked with a member of the Assembly Mark Gonzalez, a Democrat from Los Angeles to introduce Assembly A assembly 865who calls for $ 5 million over the next three years to help schools or buy or create bilingual training materials. Outside of English and Spanish, it is difficult to find high quality standards aligned with standards, and financing is expected to lower the pressure of teachers to create their own.

Martha Hernandez is Californias CEO together, a coalition that includes Asians for justice progress and is formed to oppose and overturn the state’s ban on bilingual education.

“There are many more things to do with the expansion of bilateration programs, such as dealing with teacher shortages,” Hernandez said. But the grant program is “a critical piece of puzzle,” she added. She expects the grant program to improve equity in schools in California and to help close the gaps in achievements between students who speak less common languages ​​and their English-language peers.

The controversial member Gonzalez sees a grant as a rescue line for areas developing critical programs. “We have to learn other languages,” he said. “This is crucial to the success of California’s future.”

Gonzalez is one of the most iconic legislative regions in the country and said that teachers describe that they should create their own standards in line with lessons in less common languages ​​such as Korean and Armenian. This is a time when teachers cannot spend the design of lessons or give useful reviews to students.

Search more funding

Hernandez said he still hoped the state would leave more money behind bilingual education programs before expanding the budget year. Assembly bill 2074Signed in the law in the fall, he called for an official plan for the implementation of the roadmap of the State Student in English, which outlines how schools can best serve students who do not speak English freely. There are more than 1.1 million From these students in the state schools of the state or about 1 to 5 students across the country. After the AB 2074 passed without the attached funds, a budget trailer bill allocates money for a new position in the California Department of Education to head that job.

Hernandez said the department also pursued philanthropic funding for an advisory committee created by law, which will create a more specific plan for the implementation of the road map and develop a way to guide the areas to achieve this.

But the Californians would like to see more money for the effort. The initial bill has called for three new employees in the education department, not one, so that the coalition will continue to advocate for the initial request. And since the state’s finances are in better shape, the coalition has a lot more to ask.

“This is a step,” Hernandez said. “But we are working on a multi -eight -breeding campaign for everyone. It’s a very long vision. ”

Meanwhile, Williams has been writing about how Texas does a better job of training students who are still learning English. His last report He points out that each of California and Texas has approximately the same number of students entering school speaking language different from English. But in Texas, these children outperform their peers from the gold state on a national reading and mathematics test in both the fourth and eighth grade. The state also has significantly smaller gaps in the results between learners and those who already speak English freely.

Although many factors influence the test results, which makes it impossible to say for sure that bilingual education causes Texas students to outperform Californians, Williams said that the constant gap at both levels at the level of testing is a fascinating investment of a lot of confirmation that the permanent investment in the permanent. California. “