Visalia pushes for English tutors

State funds for the program are available under Proposition 227.

Limited-English speaking parents will have access to low-cost English tutoring if the Visalia Unified school board follows through with a provision of Proposition 227 at tonight’s board meeting.

The plan is to get more adults ready to become English tutors themselves.

“The intent is to generate a cadre of adults, especially parents of limited-English proficient students to become tutors and work with children,” said Henry Der, California Department of Education superintendent of education equity, access and support.

Proposition 227, passed by 61% of California voters in June, calls for the state’s 1.4 million limited-English speaking students to study the language in intensive one-year immersion classes. After that year, they would be placed in mainstream classes.

The law also set aside $ 50 million each year statewide for the next nine years to increase English literacy in the community. Under the state’s funding formula for the tutoring effort, Visalia could get $ 120 for each of its 5,500 limited-English proficient students, said Suzanne Monroe, supervisor for compensatory education for the district.

The state is requiring districts to apply for the money by Oct. 30, which is what the Visalia board is slated to act on tonight. Der did not know how many districts statewide have replied, or when the district would receive the money.

The law is vague, Der admits, but “the way this matter is set up is to promote as much flexibility as possible so that local school districts will do whatever they feel is necessary.”

In Visalia, that means taking into account the different needs of each neighborhood, whether it has a high Southeast Asian population or a high Spanish-speaking group, said Bill Adams, principal of the Visalia Adult School, which would run the tutoring program.

Monroe said that adults would be taught how to tutor a child with limited- English skills. Then, each of those adults would have to promise to tutor at least one Visalia Unified student.

Caroline Casida, vice principal at the adult school, said plans for the program are preliminary, pending a decision by the board and word from the state on exactly how much the district would receive.

Casida is looking at how English tutoring programs in Los Angeles and Sacramento are structured before Visalia creates its own.

Launching a tutoring program is the latest in a series of steps the district has taken to comply with Proposition 227.

Last week, teachers and staff members began meeting with parents of limited English-speaking students, explaining their options if they don’t want their child in the one-year immersion program: the parents must request a waiver so their student can continue in bilingual education.

District officials have estimated that parents of 1,400 students will seek the waiver.

In addition, Visalia Unified is seeking a waiver that would apply to the entire district, but the result of that request won’t be known until next year. Officials are working on a proposal, which they plan to submit to the state by December, that describes how Visalia would teach limited English-speaking students.



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