May 5, 2021 | JNCL Announcement
During the FY22 Budget Request for The Department of Education, Chair DeLauro introduced Secretary Cardona as a former English Learner student and used some of her question time to discuss English Learner support from the Department.
Specifically, DeLauro asked: “How will the Department's Office of English Language Acquisition work with states and districts to make sure these students are getting the support that they need?”
Cardona’s response: “We need to do better than ever before. We need to see a new day for our office for multilingual learners. Going back to where we were is not good enough. Early childhood education is one but language support services for students is another. There's such a gap between the practice and the research on that. We need to go back to what we know works best, honoring and valuing the native language while uplifting the second language so we can have multilingual learners. There's a lot of work that has to be done. I look forward to engaging with that with my sleeves rolled up because this is important work for our country.”
In meetings with Secretary Cardona, JNCL-NCLIS has continued to advocate for the change of the name of the Office of English Language Acquisition to include and address the needs of multilingual learners.
