Press Release — Resources

Friday, December 20, 2019

For Immediate Release

New York, NY – The Latino Education Advocacy Directors (LEAD) Coalition launched a statewide campaign in February of this year to push for an increased investment from New York State in its Multilingual Learners (MLL), to ensure that their academic needs are met. MLLs refers to students who speak and understand other languages and are learning English.

Currently, multilingual students fall staggeringly behind their English-speaking peers, in academic achievement, and even more so when it comes to graduation rates. In 2017, the four-year MLL dropout rate was higher than the four- year graduation rate.

The campaign led by the LEAD Coalition, called “Invest in Our Future,” outlined the challenges and a series of recommendations aimed at closing the achievement gap among this high need student population. Included in these recommendations was a bill that would create a Commission for the Educational Advancement of Multilingual Learners (S4031/A8211).

Sponsors, Senator Robert Jackson (SD 31) and Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo (AD 84) were instrumental in the passing of this bill and believe it is is needed for the advancement and success of many New York students.

On December 12th, Governor Cuomo signed this bill into law, which will create a Commission meant to inform the New York State Department of Education, the legislature, and the Governor on how to close the achievement gap between MLLs and their native English-speaking peers.

We are proud to have worked with these amazing legislators who prioritize the interests of the communities they serve.

"Hispanic Federation is deeply grateful for the Multilingual Learner Commission being signed into reality. The information and recommendations that will be written by this commission of experts will help New York State better support students who have been habitually undeserved. Senator Jackson, Assemblywoman Arroyo, and Governor Cuomo were integral parts in this bill’s success" said Frankie Miranda, President of the Hispanic Federation. "Understanding the true need of multilingual learners and how New York can ensure these students' needs are met, will be invaluable and is a great step forward in closing the achievement gap."

"The Latino Education Advocacy Leaders (LEAD) Coalition was created to improve Latinx educational outcomes. This Multilingual Learner Commission will help the most vulnerable group of Latinx students, as well as all diverse multilingual learners across the state” said Diana E. Cruz, Director of Education Policy of Hispanic Federation. “Senator Jackson and Assemblywoman Arroyo are true champions of immigrants and multilingual learners and for that we are thankful. We hope to continue our work together along with the Commission, legislators and the Governor to implement recommendations that ensure our multilingual students will thrive and reach their potential."

"Zone 126 is pleased that the educational needs of multilingual learners are going to be addressed through the work of this commission and thank everyone who helped make it happen,” said Anthony Lopez, Executive Director of Zone 126.

"Congratulations to state leadership for passing this landmark legislation to advance the achievement of the New York State's multilingual learners. The establishment of a commission to evaluate policies, practices, and investments in the state's multilingual learners (MLLs) is a first step in ensuring that more MLLs graduate from high school and are prepared for postsecondary success,” said Marissa Muñoz, Northeast Director for Young Invincibles and former Education Policy Director at Hispanic Federation.

“We commend the Governor for signing legislation to establish the Multilingual Learner (MLL) Commission—an essential step towards closing education gaps and providing New York’s multilingual students with the supports they need to thrive,” said Kim Sykes, Director of Education Policy at the New York Immigrant Coalition. “Across the state, our students speak over 200 languages and the MLLs population has grown over twenty percent in the past decade. We know that when immigrant New Yorkers get the resources they need, our communities are stronger and more equitable. We look forward to working with the Commission to boost the graduation rates and support the educational attainment of multilingual learners across New York and know the Commission’s inclusion of New York’s diverse immigrant communities is critical to its success.”

Senator Jackson, said, “As a longtime parent advocate with roots in the immigrant-majority neighborhood of Washington Heights, I was proud to introduce this bill and I’m even more proud that the governor has signed it into law. Multilingual learners in our public schools deserve to be fully supported among their English-dominant peers. This commission will help us create learning environments that unlock the potential of students in New York who come from all over the world. I thank Assembly member Arroyo for her leadership on this issue in the Assembly and look forward to reading and implementing the commission’s recommendations soon!”

“The graduation rate for English Language Learners has seen some gains over the years but remains disturbingly low and in need of focused attention. The Governor clearly understands these dynamics and his signing of this legislation into law is a monumental step forward in improving the education of all our children,” stated Assemblywoman Carmen E. Arroyo, member of the Assembly Education Committee. She added, “I am proud to have collaborated on this new law with State Senator Robert Jackson, a life-long advocate and leader on improving the education of our children. His leadership in the State Senate on this major education issue will lead to a better life for countless students.”

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Tuesday, February 26, 2019

For Immediate Release

As part of the iniative they released a new report: Investing in Our Future: A Multilingual Learner Policy Agenda for New York State outlining priority recommendations aimed at closing the alarming achievement gap among multilingual students

New York, NY – The Latino Education Advocacy Directors (LEAD) Coalition launched a new statewide campaign today to push for an increased investment from New York State in its multilingual learners )MLL), to ensure that their academic needs are met. MLLs are students who speak or understand a language other than English and speak or understand little or no English.

Currently multilingual students lag staggeringly behind their peers, in academic achieve, and even more so when it comes to graduation rates. In 2017, the four-year MLL dropout rate superseded the four- year graduation rate.

The campaign called “Invest in Our Future, kicked off officially on Tuesday with the release of an eye opening report called: Investing in our Future: A Multilingual Learner Policy Agenda for NYS, that outlines the challenges and a series of recommendations aimed at closing the achievement gap among this high need student population.

The Latino Educational Advocacy Directors (LEAD) coalition consists of leading educational advocacy organizations from across the state committed to improving Latino academic outcomes and opportunities in New York State.

According to the new report findings, multilingual Learners in New York State continue to fall behind in graduation rates compared to other students due to lack of adequate focus on needed resources and funding. For example, the population of MLLs across New York State has grown nearly 20% over the last ten years. Yet, the supply of certified Bilingual Education and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers has not grown accordingly. This inadequate attention has translated into a staggering dropout rate of 30%, that surpasses their graduation rate of 27%.

“We cannot afford to ignore the needs of New York State’s multilingual learners (MLLs) any longer,” said José Calderón, President of the Hispanic Federation (HF). “As this report shows, the failure of our state to provide adequate resources and supports for our MLLs has created a full fledge educational crisis, where the MLL four-year dropout rate is actually higher than the MLL four-year graduation rate.” This is simply unacceptable and requires immediate action on the part of our state leadership. Together, we must act with bold purpose to provide the funding and appropriate resources our MLLs need to succeed academically. I applaud the work of the LEAD Coalition in elevating this issue and providing the necessary recommendations and advocacy to spur change across the state, so that all students receive a quality education that puts them on the pathway to postsecondary success.”

The report calls for immediate action from New York State Legislators and sets a series of recommendations to close the achievement gap. The coalition understands that the educational success of MLLs will will require a collective effort, reliable funding and high quality monitoring.

The report outlines six main priority recommendations to close the MLL achievement gap that include:

Fund a Targeted Initiative to Increase Graduation Rates for MLLs
Increase the Number of Certified ESOL and BE Teachers in General and Special Education
Grow Investment in Academic Supports and Parent Engagement for MLLs
Increase Socio-Emotional Supports Provided to MLLs
Form a New York State Commission to Advance the Achievement of MLLs
Earmark a Minimum of $85 Million annually for MLLs over a Three Years Phase in of the Total
$4.1 million Owed in Foundation Aid

Carmen Diaz-Malvido, Chief Executive Officer, ASPIRA of New York said: “ASPIRA of New York continues to advocate on behalf of English Language Learners to protect and ensure access to quality education. We seek a collaborative, active partnership with the New York State Legislative Leadership to fund long overdue New York State Education Department projects and polices meant to increase achievement opportunities and ensure equitable resource allocations for Multilingual Learners. Achievement and graduation rates of Multilingual Learners have declined significantly due to lack of investment, it is time to take action and engage in leveling the playing field for all New York City youth.”

Nancy Villarreal de Adler, Executive Director, New York State Association for Bilingual Education (NYSABE) said: “Education without appropriate supports for those in need is NOT equitable. Appropriate supports cannot be provided without targeted funding. Therefore, as we advocate for equity in education for New York State’s multilingual learners, we urge our elected officials to prioritize the urgent educational needs of these students and ensure appropriate funding to sustain their academic and socio-emotional success. It is a moral obligation.”

Joe Luft, Executive Director of Internationals Network said: “Multilingual learners bring many and varied assets to schools in New York State. As the leader of an organization supporting public secondary schools in New York State serving thousands of MLLs, I see MLLs' strengths as well as the challenges that they face. To build on students’ strengths while supporting them in meeting these challenges, New York State must provide the resources to ensure that there are enough well-prepared, dedicated educators who can work in alliance with community organizations to meet MLL's needs. With proper resources and supports, MLLs can and do reach their full potential. New York State will benefit from their success.”

Maria Bautista, campaigns director for the Alliance for Quality Education said:

"There is great need among our students, needs that are not met under the current underfunding of the Foundation Aid, which is specifically designed to prioritize high needs schools. The state needs to step up and fully fund the $1.66 billion for 2019-20 that the State Board of Regents determined that is necessary to meet student need, move toward programmatic improvement, and over three years provide the full $4.1 billion that the state currently owes to schools. Black, Brown and students in poverty, many of who are ELLs or MLLs are owed two thirds of the $4.1 billion. We cannot keep losing generations of students because of the state's unwillingness to fund the students' constitutional and moral right to a great education."

Asenhat Gomez, Director of El Puente said: “Multilingual Learners make our schools rich in diversity and culture but unfortunately as a City and State, we have failed to provide the appropriate resources and culturally relevant instruction they deserve. Our multilingual learners are an asset and it is time their backgrounds and experiences inform what they learn in the classrooms in order for them to feel empowered and supporter. Education is in its true form and act of liberation and it can’t be separated from the experiences of the community; therefore the challenges our youth face outside the classroom can’t be ignored, instead our schools need to become hubs where students and families alike can come together, be supported, celebrated and learn from each other. It is the responsibility of the City and State to allocate fair/equitable resources to the education of our multilingual learners and see our youth for what they are: brilliant young people who given the right resources/opportunities and guided by staff that is properly trained will continue to transform NY. El Puente is glad to be a part of the LEAD coalition and to have the opportunity to advocate for and with our youth.”

Created by the Hispanic Federation, the LEAD coalition works to highlight and address the educational needs of Latino students in the following ways: identifying and supporting effective practice; public policy advocacy and research; and the advancement of a shared educational agenda.

As part of the campaign launch, the coalition, the campaign launch the LEAD Coalition also unveiled a new website: latinoleaders.org and a public forum featuring advocates and state education officials on the state of multilingual learners who answered questions from parents attending. The list of education leaders included, Dr. Luis Reyes, Regent, NYS Board of Regents, Angélica Infante-Green, Deputy Commissioner, New York State Education Department, Joe Luft, Executive Director, Internationals Network, Rita Rodriguez, Director, Immigrant Students’ Rights Project, Advocates for Children and Evelyn DeJesus, Vice President for Education United Federation of Teachers (UFT).

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