Education Department Withholds Study on Bilingual Education
After three years and nearly $2 million, the U.S. Department of Education has decided not to publish a report on the best ways to learn to read English as a second language. Officials say the research failed to meet standards for quality. But James Crawford, executive director of the National Association for Bilingual Education, questions whether the decision is politically motivated.
KQED-FM, Sept. 26, 2005

USA Way Behind
Half of Europe's Citizens Know 2 Languages
Half of European citizens speak a second language, according to a European Union survey released Friday. The poll, conducted in June across Europe, found that tiny Luxembourg had the highest percentage of bilingual citizens, with 99 percent of those questioned saying they could master a conversation in a second language. The survey also found that almost eight out of 10 students - ages 15-24 - can have a normal conversation in at least one foreign language. In the United States, by contrast, 9 percent of Americans speak both their native language and another language fluently.
Associated Press, Sept. 23, 2005

Roberts Pressed for Views on School Cases
Judge John G. Roberts Jr.’s path to the U.S. Supreme Court seemed clear of any serious hurdles late last week, after he survived more than three days of questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats pressed Judge Roberts on a memo he wrote as a young Department of Justice lawyer opposing a Supreme Court decision involving the education of immigrant children in Texas. In its 5-4 decision in Plyler v. Doe in 1982, the court overturned as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s “equal-protection” clause a state law that had allowed school districts to deny enrolling students who had entered the country illegally.
Education Week, Sept. 21, 2005

Bush Proposed Evacuee Aid for Districts, School Vouchers
States Continue to Seek Waivers on NCLB, Other Laws.
The Bush administration is proposing up to $1.9 billion in federal aid to help school districts and charter schools that are enrolling some of the 300,000-plus students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In addition, it is proposing as much as $488 million for evacuated families to pay private or religious school tuition, in essence creating a big new school voucher program. The vouchers would be worth up to $7,500, and made available during the 2005-06 school year.
Education Week, Sept. 21, 2005

Mt. Vernon School District Expanding Foreign Language Programs To All Elementary Schools: Embraces Needs of Bilingual Students
Bilingual education in the Mount Vernon School District continues to expand with the help of Dr. Pedro J. Ruiz, Administrator for Languages other than English and the recently elected president of the National Association for Bilingual Education. Dr. Ruiz recently announced that foreign language classes in Mount Vernon elementary grades has expanded to all elementary schools within the Mount Vernon School District. Available classes include Spanish and French, with additional languages to be added in the near future.
Mount Vernon Inquirer, Sept. 17, 2005

Schools with Evacuees Risk Academic Rankings
Texas schools welcoming Hurricane Katrina evacuees into their classrooms may be placing their state and federal ratings on the line. School leaders in Texas and other states have asked for flexibility under No Child Left Behind, the sweeping public school overhaul that carries sanctions for schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress two years in a row. But U.S. Department of Education leaders say it's too early to exempt schools from the law's requirements.
San Antonio Express-News ,Sept. 16, 2005

States Pressed to Refashion Reading First Grant Designs
Documents Suggest Federal Interference
Evidence is mounting that federal employees and their agents may have directed or even pressured states to choose specific assessments, consultants, and the criteria for evaluating core reading programs as conditions for getting funding under the Reading First initiative, possibly in violation of federal law. The close oversight of the $1 billion-a-year program has allowed a handful of commercial reading programs, assessments, and consultants to reap much of that money, while others have been shut out of the competition, according to documents and confirmation by several state officials.
Education Week, Sept. 5, 2005

Former ELLs Outperform Peers
Data from California showed that English-language learners passed the state's exit exam at a significantly higher rate than the overall population. A similar trend was found in the graduation rate. New York City schools had higher graduation rates among former ELLs than non-ELLs.
Education Daily, Sept. 1 , 2005

Is Bilingual Education Report Being Downplayed?
The government will not publish a report it commissioned on bilingual education — and critics say that's because the Bush administration disagrees with the findings, which cast doubt on the efficacy of teaching immigrant children through English-only lessons.
USA Today , Aug. 25 , 2005

Federally Funded Reading First Called into Question
The U.S. Department of Education's internal watchdog has opened a preliminary investigation into possible mismanagement of President Bush's $1 billion reading program amid complaints of conflict of interest. Education Department officials would not confirm that the department's inspector general is investigating Reading First, but a spokesman for Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., confirmed that an audit was taking place.
USA Today, Aug. 7, 2005

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