Image
Federal Funding to Support the Learning and Success of Multilingual Students
English learners are a core part of our school communities, making up over 11% of total enrollment, and bringing strengths, assets, and rich linguistic diversity to our classrooms.
There are various civil rights laws and regulations that protect the rights to public education for these students and funding streams allocated to support their school success. Indeed, since 2002, the federal government has provided U.S. schools with Title III formula grants that support the linguistic and academic development of students learning English. The formula grants built basic systems for identifying students with emerging bilingual abilities to provide them with language support services at school. These investments followed decades of targeted competitive grants through the 1968 Bilingual Education Act and subsequent appropriations. These investments have never been sufficient, but are a critical resource for schools in nearly every district in the United States.
This report shows the breadth of what’s at stake - for these students, their peers, and our school communities in general - if these programs and resources are reduced or eliminated and if civil rights laws are not enforced.