FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 201
Contact:
David Castillo
(202) 776-1771
Washington, D.C.—Yesterday’s introduction of the “State and Local Flexibility Act” (H.R. 2445) by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., is of grave concern to NCLR (National Council of La Raza). This bill allows states and school districts to use federal education dollars in an unrestricted manner, essentially gambling with funding for English language learners (ELLs) and low-income students.
“This partisan bill is taking us back to a time when the achievement gap in schools was all but ignored. This proposal will only exacerbate the problem highlighted in the recently released data from the Office for Civil Rights which show that ELLs and low-income children of color still don’t have access to a quality education,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO. “Funding for ELLs, who make up 40% of the Latino student population, is especially threatened by this proposal.”
In a radio interview yesterday morning, Kline stated that schools should not be required to only use targeted funding for specific subgroups of children, including ELLs and low-income students. He continued by suggesting that some schools would rather use federal resources to buy computers instead of using targeted federal funds for English language learners.
“We expected Congressman Kline, as chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, to show leadership in maintaining the strengths of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a bill that was enacted to promote education equity,” said Murguía. “Unfortunately, his decision to introduce this bill and his recent comments call into question his commitment to providing the same educational opportunities to English language learners that are enjoyed by other Americans.”
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NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.