WALSH ANNOUNCES FEDERAL EFFORT TO IMPROVE LANGUAGE LITERACY IN SYRACUSE SCHOOLS

More than $3.5 Million in Department of Education Funding Bound for City School District

(Syracuse, N.Y.)- Congressman Jim Walsh today announced that the Syracuse City School District will receive $3,531,340 from the U.S. Department of Education for the development of an Early Reading First (ERF) program. The program will aid the early language, literacy, and pre-reading development of preschoolers, particularly those who are Limited English Proficient (LEP), English Language Learners (ELL), or from low-income households.

"These federal resources will enable the Syracuse City Schools to better target preschool age students in need of special assistance in reading and language skills development," said Walsh. "This effort will provide preschoolers who live in poverty or reside in non-English speaking households and those with special education needs access to the appropriate services before they enter the traditional kindergarten setting. It’s important that all children have a basic reading foundation before they start school, regardless of their situation at home."  

The funding will be used to establish five ERF Centers of Excellence in the Syracuse City School District that will target nine classrooms serving a total of 248 preschoolers, of whom 93% live in poverty, 15% are ELL, and 22% require special education services.

According to U.S. census figures, LEP/ELL students are the fastest growing subgroup of the U.S. student population. Under current NCLB regulations, states are required to administer an English Language Arts assessment to such students after only one year of instruction in English. 

While recognizing the benefits of monitoring LEP/ELL student achievement annually, Walsh believes schools should not be penalized for students’ scores after only one year of instruction and is working to affect that change as the NCLB legislation is set to be reauthorized.  Walsh recently communicated with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to give states the needed flexibility to implement testing and accountability suited to their LEP/ELL populations. He also wrote to the House Education and Labor Committee Chairman and Ranking Member to ask that they work with him to prohibit test scores for LEP/ELL students counting against schools until after students complete three years of English language instruction.  

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