(The opinion article originally appeared in Spanish in La Voz Hispana.)
On February 5, 2013, Mayor John DeStefano delivered his final State of the City address, citing what he felt where the top priorities for the city’s improvement in the upcoming years: the budget, public education, the economy, and public safety. Among those, he cited education as particularly important. Though DeStefano’s vision for education reform centered around the idea that a healthy economy is tied to a healthy school system, his promise of providing better quality education for all students has fallen through for a certain subset of students: English Language Learners. It is time to hold the mayoral candidates accountable for trying to improve an area of education that is in dire need of assistance and continues to be neglected.
The current mayoral race is filled with the promise of progressive change. For the first time in over 20 years, Mayor DeStefano will not be in the running to lead the Elm City. The chance to enter the race with a platform that won’t run in opposition to a mayor with a two-decade reign over the city has attracted five candidates to run a bid in hopes of implementing major change.
It seems as though all candidates have a similar vision for the city, or at least not totally polarizing ones, but again, none of those running have even alluded to the importance of prioritizing bilingual education. Moving forward, it is important to hold candidates accountable to the vision of education that they are espousing: one that provides opportunity for growth and advancement for all. All candidates have cited education, economic development, and public safety as their top goals. They differ in the specifics of how they want to accomplish these things, perhaps, but the three main areas in which they see a serious need for improvement are one in the same. Though there is unanimous consent that education is in need of investment: both in terms of time and money, there is one topic that no one has addressed specifically in their platform: bilingual education.
The state of bilingual education in the city is in crisis, but no one seems to be talking about it. English Language Learners lag behind their non-ELL counterparts in many critical markers of academic achievement: such as graduation rates and standardized test scores.
Though many of the candidates have stressed the importance of increased transparency and the participation of the public in large decision-making, particularly in the realm of education, there is a large disconnect between these espoused platforms and the reality of the current system.
This year, for example, all of the bilingual programs in the city were up for review. An initiative started by the school board, individual schools are now being put to task and being told to implement strategic plans for moving forward and improving the outcomes of English Language Learners in the city. The principals of each school are in charge of devising these plans. The fact that the improvement of the bilingual education is finally being considered in a comprehensive way by the district is a huge step forward. What needs to improve, however, is the level of transparency that the district has with its efforts. The changes that are being implemented across the city are being done with absolutely no public input at all.
The mayoral race provides a lucrative opportunity to pressure the candidates into finally putting the improvement of bilingual education into the public eye and encourage a discourse between the community and school officials in order for all to gain a better understanding about what needs to be improved in our schools. All are aware of the high stakes involved in bettering the schools of New Haven, and no subgroup of students should go underserved. The time to begin aiding our English Language Learners is now.