From: State House News Service
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2016 3:55:55 PM (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US &
Canada)
To: [email protected]
Subject: LANGUAGE LEARNING BILL STILL IN PLAY, BACKERS DIFFER OVER
ITS ODDS
By Antonio Caban
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, SEPT. 7, 2016....Dueling language in House and Senate bills
updating the state's English language learning law - passed by voters more than a decade
ago - has left key backers with mixed opinions about whether it can advance to Gov.
Charlie Baker's desk in the remaining four months of the legislative session.
"We're at a point now where we are so far apart on details that we care about, so I'm not
sure if we can do something. I'm hopeful that we can come together," said Sen. Sal
DiDomenico, the original Senate sponsor, who said he plans to discuss differences
between the bills with House sponsor Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez.
House and Senate lawmakers plan to meet in informal sessions for the remainder of the
year where it's unlikely that controversial legislation will be advanced without a
compromise on the measure between both branches.
"I'm optimistic that we can work with our Senate counterparts to figure this one out. I
have no doubt. No doubt in my mind. We've gotten this far, I feel like we can figure it
out," said Sanchez, a Jamaica Plain Democrat.
Passed by both branches in July, the bills (
H4566<https://malegislature.gov/Bills/189/House/H4566> /
S2421<https://malegislature.gov/Bills/189/Senate/S2421/History>) seek to give school
districts greater flexibility in educating children who do not speak English, or whose
native language is not English. The legislation would allow districts to tailor a language
program to meet the individual needs of struggling students, require them to evaluate the
progress of English language learners and establish a parent advisory council to consult
with school officials on ELL issues.
"It's an important recognition that what we're doing right now is systematically not
working for our English language learners and by extension for our workforce and future
economy as a state," said Education Committee co-chair Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, who
added that kids come to the United States at different ages, with backgrounds and varying
levels of English proficiency which may not fit the current system.
In 2002, voters approved a law that called for immigrant students to be immersed into
English-only classrooms through a sheltered English immersion program. Parents could
apply for waivers to withdraw from the program, but only under certain exceptions. Since
its passage, critics have argued that the law has led to greater gaps in performance among
immigrant students and contributed to lower graduation rates.
"It's modifying the immersion law to make the districts more accountable to the
Department of Education, and the Department of Education, frankly, more accountable to
families and to those of us that are trying to figure out how this population of students is
doing," Sanchez told the News Service of his bill.
Though House and Senate versions share certain components, Sanchez's bill does not
include a section which tasks the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to
develop a "State Seal of Biliteracy." The seal, according to the Senate bill, would be
placed on the student's high school diploma or transcript and signify that a student has
met certain academic benchmarks in one or more languages in addition to English.
"We thought that that was a good piece in the bill and we thought that that's what a lot of
school districts would want. And I've heard from a lot of superintendents on that piece in
particular and on the bill as a whole and they liked our bill and they liked that aspect of
it," said DiDomenico.
House and Senate bills also differ on the frequency of on-site visits by the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education to assess program effectiveness. Language in the
Senate bill calls for DESE to visit every six years, which mirrors existing department
policy. The House bill requires at least one visit every five years.
Dr. Mary Bourque, superintendent of Chelsea Public Schools and member of the
Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, told the News Service that her
group prefers the Senate bill, and added that there may be redundancies in the House
legislation that are already addressed in current policy.
"We're not quite sure how DESE is going to choose to regulate," said Bourque, whose
school district serves ELL students."Some of the things that they're saying DESE will do,
we're already doing."
The bills did not have much traction over the first 18 months of the session, but
lawmakers surfaced them in July, the final month for formal sessions under joint
legislative rules. The Senate unanimously passed its bill July 7 and the House approved
its bill without debate on the evening of Sunday, July 31, the hectic last formal session of
the year.
09/07/2016