U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the award of $12.9 million in grants to school districts in 22 states to help dramatically increase the number of Americans learning foreign languages deemed critical to national security and commerce.

The grants, part of President Bush's National Security Language Initiative, are intended to address the shortage of critical foreign language speakers by supporting new and expanded programs in grades K-12.

"Languages like Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi and Farsi are not only essential for trade in the global economy, but also to our national security," Secretary Spellings said. "When it comes to foreign languages, our students get started too late—and too few study critical languages. We can and must turn this around."

Less than 1 percent of American high school students combined study Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Russian or Urdu, according to the State Department.

The $12.9 million in new grants being announced today, together with continuation of funding for existing Foreign Language Assistance grants, total more than $22 million that has been awarded throughout the country in recent days to help address the shortage of critical foreign language speakers.

For example, Chinese is the most widely spoken first language in the world, but less than one-half of one percent of American students taking a foreign language in grades K-12 study Chinese.

President Bush's National Security Language Initiative is designed to significantly increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi, and others through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce.

An essential component of U.S. national security in the post-9/11 world is the ability to engage foreign governments and peoples, especially in critical regions, to encourage reform, promote understanding, convey respect for other cultures and provide an opportunity to learn more about America and its citizens.

To do this, Americans must be able to communicate in other languages, a challenge for which most citizens are totally unprepared. To address these needs, the departments of Education, State, and Defense, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence have developed a comprehensive national plan to expand U.S. foreign language education beginning in kindergarten and continuing throughout formal schooling and into the workforce with new programs and resources.

For more information on the initiative, visit http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/competitiveness/nsli/index.html.

Foreign Language Assistance Program
Office of English Language Acquisition
New Grants to Local Education Agencies for FY 2006

AK — ANCHORAGE, Anchorage School District, $217,887
CA — BELMONT, Carlmont High School, $70,444
CA — GLENDALE, Glendale Unified School District, $300,000
CA — IMPERIAL BEACH, South Bay Union School District, $273,520
CA — LOS ANGELES, Academia Semillas del Pueblo Charter School, $101,392
CA — LOS ANGELES, Wilton Place Elementary, $147,121
CA — MISSION VIEJO, Saddleback Valley Unified School District, $294,335
CA — REDDING, Shasta Union High School District, $135,000
CA — SACRAMENTO, Language Academy of Sacramento, $150,000
CA — SACRAMENTO, North Sacramento School District, $299,812
CA — SAN FRANCISCO, San Francisco Unified School District, $300,000
CA — SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Capistrano Unified School District, $121,880
CA — SONOMA, Adele Harrison Middle School, $167,971
CA — SONOMA, Sonoma Valley Unified School District, $172,092
CA — VALLEJO, MIT Academy, $105,754
CA — WALNUT, Walnut Valley Unified School District, $251,965
CO — FORT COLLINS, Poudre School District, $178,854
CT — WEST HARTFORD, West Hartford Public Schools, $70,178
FL — FORT LAUDERDALE, Broward County School Board, $188,813
FL — LARGO, Pinellas County Schools, $147,917
FL — MIAMI, Miami-Dade County Schools, $237,263
FL — ORLANDO, Florida Virtual School, $300,000
FL — TAMPA, Hillsborough County Schools, $274,777
IA — WELLMAN, Mid-Prairie Community Schools, $200,809
IL — BEARDSTOWN, Beardstown Community Unit School District #15, $300,000
IL — CHICAGO, Chicago Public Schools, $297,137
IL — HIGHLAND PARK, Highland Park High School, $22,423
IL — WOODSTOCK, Woodstock Community Unit School District #200, $120,103
IN — BROWNSBURG, Brownsburg Community School Corporation, $55,611
IN — INDIANAPOLIS, Metropolitan School District of Washington Township, $268,610
KS — GARDEN CITY, Unified School District 457, $124,096
KS — PITTSBURG, Pittsburg Unified School District 250, $232,803
KY — LEXINGTON, Fayette County Public Schools, $300,000
KY — LOUISVILLE, Jefferson County Public Schools, $145,735
MA — AMHERST, Amherst Pelham Regional School District, $148,746
MA — CAMBRIDGE, Cambridge Public Schools, $280,764
MI — DEARBORN, Dearborn School District, $291,611
MI — LANSING, Lansing School District, $245,822
MN — BIGELOW, Worthington Area Language Academy, $100,000
MN — COTTAGE GROVE, South Washington County Schools, $175,000
MN — SAINT PAUL, St. Paul Public Schools, $179,757
MN — WILMAR, Wilmar Public School District #347, $127,615
NC — WINSTON-SALEM, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, $57,745
NJ — DEMAREST, Northern Valley Regional High School District, $5,192
NJ — FAIR LAWN, Fair Lawn Board of Education, $28,420
NJ — FORT LEE, Fort Lee School District, $191,370
NJ — HIGHSTOWN, East Windsor Regional School District, $125,288
NJ — VERNON, Vernon Township Public Schools, $2,750
NY — FORT EDWARD, Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex, $156,452
NY — GOSHEN, Orange-Ulster BOCES, $250,230
NY — HORNELL, Hornell City School District, $83,464
NY — NEW HARTFORD, Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES, $254,298
NY — NEW YORK, New York City Department of Education District 1, $300,000
NY — NEW YORK, Ross Global Academy Charter School, $73,269
NY — ROCHESTER, Rochester City School District, $128,495
NY — ROOSEVELT, Roosevelt Union Free School District, $237,981
NY — SCHENECTADY, Schenectady City School District, $202,728
OH — CLEVELAND, Cleveland Municipal School District — Buhrer K-8 School, $238,369
OH — COLUMBUS, Franklin County Board of Education, $267,911
OR — EUGENE, Eugene School District 4J, $184,170
OR — PORTLAND, Multnomah County School District No. 1 , $207,852
PA — PHILADELPHIA, Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School, $297,674
PA — PHILADELPHIA, The School District of Philadelphia, $247,678
PA — PHILADELPHIA, The School District of Philadelphia, $116,162
PA — PITTSBURGH, Pittsburgh School District, $235,911
TX — HOUSTON, Houston Independent School District, $165,684
TX — KATY, Katy Independent School District, $117,085
TX — KATY, Katy Independent School District, $50,119
TX — PLANO, Plano Independent School District, $177,073
VA — FALLS CHURCH, Fairfax County Public Schools, $188,511
WA — SEATTLE, Seattle Public Schools, $182,507
Total — $12,898,005

Foreign Language Assistance Program
Office of English Language Acquisition
Grants to State Education Agencies for FY 2006

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Raleigh, $95,367.
Ohio Department of Education, Columbus, $100,000.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Madison, $201,269.
Wyoming Department of Education, Cheyenne, $157,410.
State Grant Total — $554,046

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