WVTESOL Position Statement on the Funding of WV English as a Second Language Programs

Approved by the Board of WVTESOL, West Virginia Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, state affiliate of the TESOL International, January 27, 2007

      WVTESOL urges the West Virginia legislature to provide immediate and adequate funding for ESL (English as a Second Language) instruction for students with limited English proficiency in state schools.
      The West Virginia Board of Education, in compliance with federal mandates, provides oversight of district ESL programs, but West Virginia is one of only a handful of states which lacks a funding plan for program implementation.  Federal ESL funds, through Title III grants, are given to supplement, not supplant, state and local funding.  These grants are not sufficient to pay instructional personnel costs, nor do they reach all impacted counties.  
      Recent demographic trends and commitments to high levels of academic achievement for all students combine to make this an especially urgent matter. Beginning in the 1990s, surges in immigration and other US demographic trends have had dramatic impacts upon both the number and diversity of the students and adults referred to as English language learners.  By 1999 the enrollment of limited English proficient (LEP) students in West Virginia schools began to increase significantly and official LEP data collection began.  Five years later, in 2004, the number of WV students in kindergarten through 12th grade with limited English proficiency had grown by about 150%. During the same period total WV K-12 enrollment declined at nearly 7%.  The US Department of Education projects that by 2015 30% of the children in US schools will be English language learners.  These trends combine to make it likely the state will experience a continuing increase in the proportion English language learners in public schools.
      What was once a small more narrowly defined group of migrant students in West Virginia has become tremendously diverse, representing a broad variety not only in linguistic and cultural backgrounds, but also in educational and socioeconomic characteristics.  Enrolled in the same school may be:

1. an Arabic child whose parents are attending graduate school
2. the intermittently schooled child of a migrant worker from Mexico
3. a U.S.- born child of immigrants who speak only Chinese
4. a young refugee from Africa with no formal education
5. an adopted child whose early years were spent in a foreign orphanage

ESL students offer both educational challenges and educational opportunities. If our schools support ESL students as they gain academic-level English proficiency, these students will be better prepared to succeed in other academic endeavors and become part of the bilingual, diverse professional work force which our state needs to compete in the global marketplace.  With effective school support, their classmates will also be better prepared for life in a diverse global community.
      It is critical that West Virginia decision makers at all levels recognize and address the impact which instruction of English language learners has on educational outcomes.  
It is time for state education leaders to:      

1. Recognize the need for reliable funding sources for ESL programs
2. Dedicate funds to support ESL programs
3. Make ESL funds available equitably across the state

These steps are a sound investment in West Virginia’s future.  Even more importantly, they are the right thing to do for the children in our care today.  

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