Signed Statement to Regents & Commissioner Mills on ELL Crisis in New York City

Mon Aug 18 22:18:40 UTC 2008

FYI    (See article from today's New York Post at the end and blog entry on Learning the Language by Mary Ann Zehr: 
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/

I sent this statement out today.

Luis O. Reyes, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Lehman College, CUNY

Coordinator, CEEELL

Coalition for Educational Excellence for English Language Learners

(W) 718-960-6778

luisoreyes at aol.com

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To: New York State Education Commissioner Richard Mills

Cc: Office of Bilingual Education Committee of Practitioners et al.

BC: CEEELL and Media Lists

From: Luis O. Reyes, Ph.D., Coordinator, Coalition for Educational Excellence for English Language Learners (CEEELL), and others (individuals and organizations listed below)

Subject: RESPONDING TO THE SYSTEMIC CRISIS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (ELLs) IN NEW YORK CITY 
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Given: 

-the high 4-year English Language Learner (ELL) dropout rate (June 2007): 29.4% statewide, 

-the low 4-year ELL graduation rate (June 2007): 25.2% statewide; 23.5% in NYC, 

-the still low 5-year (37.7% for the 2002 cohort) and 6-year ELL graduation rates (44.3% for the 2001 cohort), 

-the very low proportion of ELLs graduating after 4 years with a Regents diploma: 9% in 2005 and 10% in 2007, compared with 43% and 41% respectively for NYC as a whole, 

-the decreasing % of ELLs in transitional bilingual programs in New York City: 37.4% in 2002-03 and=2
021.6% in 2007-08, 

The increased % of ELLs in ESL-only classes in New York City: 53.4% in 2002-03 and 69.1% in 2007-08 

-the lack of access to new small high schools over the last 3-4 years outside of the new International High Schools, 

-Nearly one-thi rd of high school ELLs in New York City being provided no ELL instruction, according to preliminary findings from an upcoming New York Immigration Coalition report, 

-the lack of equal access for ELLs to charter schools in New York City: 2-3% ELL enrol lment despite citywide 13-14% ELL enrollments over the last 3-4 years, 

-the lack of required coursework re ELLs for principals, especially considering all the new schools opened under Chancellor Klein, 

-the lack of dedicated $s for ELLs in New York City’s Con tract for Excellence20(C4E) Plans (citywide or districts) during 2007-08 fiscal year, 

-the lack of adequate fiscal accountability re the new C4E funds in last year’s state budget and in this year's 2008-09 state budget (despite the additional $70M in Foundation Aid generated by New York City ELLs  (i.e., t here is allowable use of C4E $s for ELLs, but no required use of C4E $s for ELLs), and 

-the lack of any significant enforcement action by Regents and the State Education Department (SED) to require the New York City Department of Education to meet its obligations under state law, regulations, and legal mandates re identification and placement of ELLs in appropriate programs, equal access to new instructional 
programs and schools, adequate funding to meet ELLs’ instructional and support service needs, and providing a sound basic education to ELLs (including graduation with a Regents high school diploma). 

Therefore, 

We call on the New York State Board of Regents and the State Education Commissioner to take immediate and deliberate action, including to: 

-Ensure that policy and programmatic decisions are made on the basis of the lates t research on ELL instruction, 

-Develop an SED action plan for New York City to meet annual targets for increased ELL graduation rates tied to allocation of new Foundation Aid/ and Contract for Excellence funds, 

-Improve fiscal accountability re ELL funding built into the budget law and Regents regula tions, 

- Build upon recent steps to improve ELL o utcomes in New York City, including a $7 million dollar ELL Grant Initiative pilot program and increased accountability for ELL funding and services, 

-Improve SED monitoring and full enforcement of federal, state and court mandates, especially in New York City, given the issues raised above, 

-Initiate an Annual Demographic and Performance Report on ELLs by school district modeled on the New York City Department of Education’s annual report, and 

-Appoint an Assistant, Associate or Deputy Commissioner re ELLs in the State Education Department empowered to bring an honest and comprehensive assessment of ELL conditions to the attention of the Commissioner and the Regents and to recommend to the Commissioner appropriat
e action to be taken by the Regents and the Commissioner. 

Respectfully, 

Luis O. Reyes, Ph.D., Coordinator, Coali tion for Educational Excellence for English Language Learners (CEEELL)

Maria Neira, Vice President, New York State United Teachers 

Wilda Ramos, President, New York State Association for Bilingual Education 

Chung Wha Hong, Executive Director, The New York Immigration Coalition 

Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez, President, Hispanic Federation 

Matthew Lenaghan, Deputy Director, Advocates for Children 
=0 A
Wayne H. Ho, Executive Director, Coalition for Asian American Children=2 0& Families 

Ana Maria Archila, Co-Executive Director, Make the Road New York 

Khin Mai Aung, Staff Attorney, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund 

Vladimir Epsteyn, Executive Director, Metropolitan Russian American Parent Association 

Mae Lee, Executive Director, Chinese Progressive Association 

Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education 

Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters 

Dr. Dolores Fernandez, President of Hostos Community College, City University of New York 

Carmen Perez Hogan, Bilingual Educator 

Ofelia García, Ph.D., Professor, Graduate Center, City University of New York 

Isabel Cid Sirgado, Ph.D, Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature, Baruch College, City University of New York 

Patrick J. S ullivan, Manhattan Member, Panel for Educational Policy 

Norm Fruchter, Annenberg Institute for School Reform 

John M. Beam, Executive Director, National Center20for Sch ools and Communities, Fordham University 

Betsy Combier, President and Editor, The E-Accountability Foundation 

Sam Coleman, member of NYCoRE (New York Collective of Radical Educators) 

Juliet Luther, Bilingual Educator, Bronx, NY 

Miguel Melendez 

Dr Aida Rosa, Retired Principal, PS 30, Bronx, NY 

Eugene Falik

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New York Post

CITY SCHOOLS LEAVE KIDS LOST IN TRANSLATION: CRITICS 

By YOAV GONEN 

August 18, 2008 -- 

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08182008/news/regionalnews/city_schools_leave_kids_lost_in_translat_124954.htm

An alarming number of students who need extra help learning English are being let down by the city's school system, according to advocates who want the state to intervene. 

Fewer than one in four "English Language Learners" graduated on time in 2007, according to state data released last week. 

The figures show that of the nine traditional high schools with on-time graduation rates under 40 percent last year, seven had more ELLs than the citywide high-school average of 12.3 percent. 

Five had at least twice that figure. 

Of the nearly $380 million in state funds given to schools for the upcoming school year, just $13.7 million is targeted specifically for ELLs. 

"In New York City, we seem to be going in the wrong direction - much of it due to the fact that they've been dismantling bilingual programs as they break up the large high schools," said Luis Reyes, coordinator of the Coalitio
n for Educational Excellence for English Language Learners. 