Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I am pleased to appear before the Committee today to testify on teacher recruitment, preparation, and development related to serving limited English proficient (LEP) students. The fiscal year 2003 budget request for English Language Acquisition includes $37.9 million under National Activities for new grants to institutions of higher education to train new teachers to serve LEP students and to improve the skills of teachers already serving them. In addition, we estimate that Department will use another $64 million to continue professional development grants originally awarded to institutions of higher education under the antecedent legislation.

Fiscal year 2003 will be the second year of implementation for the Language Acquisition State Grants authorized by Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act. The new legislation provides formula grants to States based on their numbers of LEP and recent immigrant students. Because of new flexibility and accountability provisions, this legislation should lead to greatly improved services for this Nation's LEP students. At the request level, the Department will allocate an estimated $469 million to States under this new formula program. States may reserve up to 5 percent of these funds for State-level activities such as professional development, and local school districts also must use part of their subgrants for professional development.

Limited English Proficient Students

Professional development is a critical issue in serving LEP students because the enrollment of these students has grown dramatically over the past decade. States currently report that their schools enroll 3.7 million limited English proficient students, almost a 50-percent increase over the 2.5 million enrolled in the 1992-93 school year. More importantly for the Department's programs, growth in the numbers of these students is spreading across the Nation. California, New York, and Texas continue to enroll the majority (61 percent), but their share is declining because of the rapid growth in other States. For example, 19 States (Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, and Tennessee) reported that their limited English proficient population more than doubled between 1992-93 and 1999-2000.

As a result of these demographic changes, limited English proficient students are increasingly enrolled in schools that have little prior experience in serving them. The new Language Acquisition State Grants program ensures that funds are allocated where they are needed by distributing funds to States and school districts based on the number of these students rather than through competitive grant awards.

Who Teaches Limited English Proficient Students?

The Department's 1993-1994 Schools and Staffing Survey found that 42 percent of all public school teachers have at least one limited English proficient student in their classroom. However, only 30 percent of those teachers have received training to prepare them to serve these students. Furthermore, less than 3 percent of these teachers have earned a degree in English as a second language or bilingual education. As a consequence, there continues to be a critical need for assistance in preparing new teachers to serve these students and to improve the skills of those teachers already doing so.

Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Request

While the $665 million budget request for English Language Acquisition for fiscal year 2003 is the same as the fiscal year 2002 appropriation, it will provide an increase of some $54 million for the State formula grant program. The increase is due to the decline in funding required to cover continuation costs for instructional services and professional development projects originally funded under the antecedent discretionary grant programs.

In addition to the State formula funds, the request includes $43.2 million for National Activities. Of this amount, $37.9 million is for the National Professional Development Project which awards 5-year discretionary grants to institutions of higher education to increase the pool of teachers prepared to serve LEP students and increase the skills of teachers already serving them. National Activities also includes $2 million for the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Education Programs. The National Clearinghouse collects, analyzes, synthesizes, and disseminates information, primarily to teachers and practitioners, about language instructional educational programs for limited English proficient (LEP) students. The National Activities set-aside also includes up to $3.3 million for evaluating the programs authorized by Title III.

Conclusion

My colleagues and I will be happy to respond to any questions you have regarding teacher recruitment, preparation, and development for limited English proficient students.

This page last modified—August 2, 2006.