Levy Unveils His Plan to Fix Bilingual Ed

Schools Chancellor Harold Levy yesterday presented a $75 million plan to help non-English speaking students learn the language faster while giving their parents several options to chose from.

The 41-page proposal closely mirrors a series of reforms recommended Monday by the mayoral Task Force on Bilingual Education.

Levy’s plan, which will require funding from either city, state or federal budgets, will be the subject of public hearings next month by the Board of Education’s English Language Learners’ Subcommittee. Final recommendations are to be presented to the full board before Feb. 7.

Levy said the plan calls for bolstering the two programs now being used by the school system-bilingual and English as a Second Language.

“The emphasis this year is on repair and not dismantling,” Levy said. “This is not cheap. But if we are going to get first-class learning, we need to pay first-class prices.”

A key ingredient to the program, Levy said, is giving parents the right to chose a plan that best serves the needs of their children. Under the proposal, parents would choose from among four programs: bilingual; ESL; a dual language program that emphasizes English and a student’s native language, or an accelerated academic program using ESL techniques.

Levy said that 160,000 students who speak 140 different languages are now being taught in the existing programs. “Children do learn English in both programs,” Levy said. “The question is how they learn it more quickly.

“Let’s try to take the programs that work and make them better,” he said. “Let’s recognize the programs that do not work. No one program works for all children. I want parents to be vigilant in the interests of their children.”

The $75 million, which would be on top of the almost $170 million now being spent for bilingual and ESL classes, would include $111,000 for informing parents of their right to choose, $2.3 million to improve teacher quality and $500,000 for 20 new dual language programs, Levy said.

Levy listed seven specific recommendations: To inform parents of their right to choose; to establish a goal to develop English proficiency in three years; to create an intensive language program; to end the practice of alternating between programs from year to year; to investigate second language development for students with disabilities; to revise entry and exit assessments and criteria for getting into the programs, and to improve teacher quality.



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