Resolution - :TO OPPOSE ELIMINATION OF ONE-WAY BILINGUAL PROGRAMS FOR OVER 1,000 STUDENTS IN GRADES 4 THROUGH 8 IN ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

WHEREAS, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is committed to improving the education of English language learners; and

WHEREAS, the Orange County Public School administration has announced plans to eliminate One-Way Bilingual Education Programs in Grades 4 through 8; and

WHEREAS, the population of English language learners in Orange County is increasing at a significant rate, with ESOL currently 18% of the district’s students, the largest proportion of English Language Learners in the state; and

WHEREAS, the population of English language learners in Orange County nearly tripled between the 1999-2000 and 2008-09 school years; and

WHEREAS, students are placed in One-Way Bilingual Programs upon their parents’ requests; and

WHEREAS, students who were in One-Way Bilingual Programs are successful; and

WHEREAS, in 2009, a higher percentage of Orange County 10th grade ELLs achieved a passing score on the FCAT Reading test than other Central Florida Districts and than the average score for Florida school districts;

WHEREAS, the Orange County ELL Plan submitted to the state provides assurance of involvement of the Parent Leadership Council and the ELL Committee in planning and placement decisions; and

WHEREAS, neither the District’s Parent Leadership Council nor the ELL Committee has been involved in formulating plans for elimination of One-Way Bilingual Program in Grades 4-8 or placement decisions for students removed from those programs; and

WHEREAS, research findings from a sample set of 2 million student records from 23 large and small school districts from 15 different states, representing all regions of the US in urban, suburban, and rural contexts demonstrate that eight years of bilingual instruction in One-Way Programs is necessary to close the academic achievement gap (Collier, V. & Thomas, W. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2:1 Winter 2004); and

WHEREAS, closing the achievement gap is necessary to ensure that students graduate from high school, take challenging courses, and go on to college, and to achieve equal educational opportunity; and

WHEREAS, Florida’s two main goals for the next decade are doubling the percentage of high-school freshmen who eventually go on to earn college credit and eliminating the achievement gap between white and minority students; and

WHEREAS, the Office for Civil Rights of the US Department of Education has announced that school districts must provide disaggregated data on student participation in Advanced Placement courses, ACT/SAT tests, math and science courses, and International Baccalaureate programs; and

WHEREAS, The RttT guidelines define “highly effective” teaching as being able to move students 1.5 years ahead in academic growth; and

WHEREAS, research findings from a sample set of 2 million student records from 23 large and small school districts from 15 different states, representing all regions of the US in urban, suburban, and rural contexts demonstrate that students who leave a special remedial program such as Sheltered English and join the curricular mainstream make, at best, one year’s progress each school year (just as typical native English speakers do), thus maintaining but not further closing the gap. Only One-Way and Two-Way Programs have this power (Collier, V. & Thomas, W. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2:1 Winter 2004); and

WHEREAS, the cost efficiency of the plan to eliminate One-Way programs is not known, as transportation, the costs of additional paraprofessionals and two teachers for each student group that now needs only one teacher have not been publically considered;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that LULAC Florida take all possible measures to support the Orange County Parent Leadership Council in seeking to maintain One-Way Bilingual Education Programs in the Orange County School, urge the School Board to resolve the issue, and urge all local and state elected officials and civic organizations to urge the School Board to maintain these programs.

Approved this 17th day of July 2010.

Margaret Moran
LULAC National President