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JNCL-NCLIS Language Education Funding Analysis, Senate Appropriations Committee Finalizes Education & Defense

Dear Ronie,

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its Fiscal Year 2025 Labor HHS Education and Department of Defense spending bills.

Overall, the Labor HHS Education bill represents a significant funding upgrade from the House Appropriations Committee’s version. Where the House bill proposed to cut approximately $11.1 billion from the Department of Education’s budget and eliminate 17 programs, the Senate bill would actually increase the Department’s funding by more than $900 million and retain all programs.

For language education, the news in the Labor HHS Education bill was largely positive:

  • Title III, English Language Acquisition, received a $5 million increase in the Senate bill, a significant victory considering the House proposed to eliminate all funds for it.
  • Title IV-A, the flexible block grant that some districts use for language education programs, was accorded a $10 million increase over last year, which is the same that it received in the House bill.
  • Title II-A, the professional development grant program that the House also proposed to eliminate, received level funding in the Senate bill.
  • Title VI of the Higher Education Act, which sustained a more than $4 million cut in the House bill, was level funded in the Senate bill.
  • Indian Education, Native Hawaiian Education, Alaska Native Education, and Native American Language Resource Center were all flat-funded.

View the full analysis and funding comparison chart here.

The Committee also offered its support of “initiatives to build multilingual teacher pipelines through Grow-Your-Own initiatives and provide professional development in multilingual education for existing school staff and teachers” and “efforts for post-secondary fellowships to bolster the multilingual educator pipeline.”

Unfortunately, the Department of Defense’s FY25 spending bill, included only $10 million for the World Language Advancement and Readiness Grant Program (WLARP). While this is the same level as last year, it is still $5 million less than the House FY25 Defense spending bill included and $5 million less than FY23’s final appropriated level. JNCL-NCLIS will continue to work to show Congress WLARP’s value and restore the program to its $15 million funding level.

Congress is now in recess until September. When it returns, it will have very few days left to legislate before recessing for the election. It is anticipated that Congress will pass a Continuing Resolution, a temporary budget measure, to keep the government operating from October 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year, until December.

JNCL-NCLIS News

 

Before leaving for September recess, Congresswoman Deborah Ross (D-NC), Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) introduced a full reauthorization of Title VI of the Higher Education Act.

The Advancing International and Foreign Language Education Act would reauthorize U.S. Department of Education higher education world language programs through 2030.

JNCL-NCLIS has worked closely with the Coalition for International Education to gather support for this reauthorization legislation and to ensure that Congress provides appropriate funding levels for Title VI in annual appropriations.

“Language education can broaden horizons and expand opportunities for Americans,” said Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA). “As the co-chair of the America’s Languages Caucus, I’m proud to support the Advancing International and Foreign Language Education Act which would extend language programs so critical to building a workforce ready to compete around the world. By investing in language and international education programs today, we ensure our nation can continue leading the world and the global economy.”

Resources for the Start of the School Year

Leslie Grahn has been sharing some resources to help teachers start the school year off on a positive note.  Check them out.

Kick off the new school year by starting with the “why.” Why learn another language? What are the benefits? How do you plan to start the conversation with your students? Here are some curated resources for you.  Click here to access the resources.Check back for more resources!

How will you provide a supportive learning environment for your language learners in the new school year? Support them with word walls, chat mats, expression lists, and more! Curated resources for you here.

As we are building relationships with our students and creating classroom community in the new school year, consider having students reflect on their strengths and talents and how they can contribute to the classroom community. Resources for multiple languages here

As we focus on building relationships and classroom community in the new school year, consider designing communicative tasks that have an affective element- tasks that create connections with and between students. Lean on instructional strategies like find someone who, speed friending, inside-outside circles and more.  Click here for a link to building relationships and Learning Environment!  Here are some resrouces for Speaking and Writing in World Languages.

Get your language learners out of their seats and moving with brain breaks in the TL! Zumba, Yoga, Dance, and more! Resources for multiple languages here

Check back often for more resources.  I will add them as I find them!  Thanks so much Leslie Grahn!

JNCL Legislative Alert

TAKE ACTION

On June 27th, the House Labor HHS Education Appropriations Subcommittee approved a bill that would slash $11 billion from the Department of Education, which is a 13% drop from last year, and eliminate 17 federally funded education programs. While not all cuts are not publicly known, it is clear that the House bill would completely eliminate two key language education programs – the $890 million English Language Acquisition (Title III) program and the $2.19 billion Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A) program. Take action today to help restore funding for these language programs! 

CLICK HERE FOR MOR INFORMATION

Special Announcement JNCL-NCLIS

In a significant stride towards advancing language education and policy, the Joint National Committee for Languages and the National Council for Languages and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS) proudly announces its 2025 advocacy events. These events, taking place both in-person and virtually, aim to unite educators, policymakers, and language enthusiasts from across the nation. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in dynamic discussions, participate in workshops, and advocate for robust language programs. Whether joining on-site or online, participants will be instrumental in shaping the future of language education and policy.

Special Announcement: JNCL-NCLIS In-Person & Virtual Advocacy Events in 2025 (languagepolicy.org)

Call For Nominations

Ready to inspire and lead in the World Language field? Whether you’re a seasoned leader or see potential in someone to excel, the MAFLA Board of Directors awaits you.

As a dynamic force for diversity, equity, and inclusion, MAFLA supports our educators through advocacy, learning, and training, guiding Massachusetts students towards multilingualism. If you or someone you know is ready for this impactful journey, we invite you to apply and help shape the future of World Language education.

Nominations close May 20, 2024. Don’t miss this chance to be part of something amazing and to be a leader in our field!

World Language Week

All MA teachers, students, language depts , and districts will be honoring the study of a world language this week. Although we spend time every day respecting diversity, cultural differences,  and intercultural connections, this week gives us an increased opportunity to showcase those extra aspects of language that are small slices of global experience.

In my own district , many teachers do special projects or activities that bring the language to life such as the Manie Musicale. We have a very colorful bulletin board complete with QR codes for students to participate. We have another bulletin  with ‘ailes’from different countries for students to have their fotos taken with. Our high school principal dedicated Thursday as ‘International T Shirt Day’. All staff are encouraged to wear a shirt of foreign origin. The Spanish Honor Society typically has dancing classes for bachata and tango. French Honor Society just celebrated Marci Gras.

Junior high advisory periods have various games by day for prizes as well as cooking demos of arepas and churros.

I do a video cast called ‘Ciao, Falmouth’ and will broadcast through local cable pictures of teachers and students honoring Mardi Gras , et al. Students also broadcast morning news and have an intro to the week planned for Monday morning. Later on, the Asst Superintendent and Director of DEI and I will also discuss live how the district is highlighting all the diversity and rich cultural heritage there is in Falmouth. We will mention how important the study of other languages is and how we make the transitions from one school to the next higher level seamlessly. We call it ‘ Smooth Sailing ’.

We hope you plan some special events, cooking demos, and  field trips, or exchanges to provide students with motivation and the encouragement to continue learning about our global neighbors near and far. Share your ideas with us!

Submitted by Pat DiPillo, MAFLA Past President

World Language Week 2024 (2)

CAL Announcement – Your help needed

Do you have a Successful K-12 Public Schools Heritage Language Program?
Please see below  to help CAL with information.

The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) has recently been awarded a three-year grant by the International Research and Studies Program of the U.S. Department of Education to develop a free, online self-access training program that supports teachers, administrators, and families in understanding best practices for and their roles in building and sustaining an effective K-12 heritage language (HL) program.

As part of this project, we are currently searching for existing successful K-12 heritage language programs in the U.S. to find out more about the practices that have helped them succeed.

Could you please share the following online form with MaFLA’s membership to help us identify successful K-12 public school heritage language programs? https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SuccessfulHLPrograms

You can read more about the project at https://www.cal.org/projects/building-an-effective-heritage-language-program-training-for-k-12-teachers-administrators-and-families/.