Guest blogger Rosa Castro Feinberg, retired Florida International associate professor and chairwoman of the LULAC Florida Education Advisory Committee, writes her views as the Legislature considers a bill to reduce ESOL training for reading teachers:
"Senate Bill 0286 would harm English language learners by eliminating the requirement that Reading teachers earn the 300 hour endorsement in ESOL when they are assigned English language learners. Instead, the bill would slash the requirement to a mere 60 hours of training. The truthfulness of this statement is not a function of my motivation, my income, or its sources.
Had I earned millions from the sale of my products or services to school districts, it would be in keeping with the country’s tradition of private enterprise that honors the profit motive. Witness the appointment of the CEO of Academica Corporation, a for-profit charter management company, as chair of Florida’s Charter School Review Panel. Evidently the state of Florida finds nothing improper about offering policy advice in an area where you also make money.
Nevertheless, supporters of this bill have alleged that there is something sinister afoot when experts in the fields of second language learning and policy development publish their research and serve as consultants. Their carping fails to take into account the duties of higher education faculty.
Faculty members have three areas of responsibility: teaching, service
to their institution, the profession, and the community; and research
and publications. Faculty members must document their activities in
these three areas, are evaluated in these three areas, and receive
recognition and awards on the basis of their accomplishments in these
three areas. Academics who don’t publish risk loss of employment. State
law (Florida’s School Community Professional Development Act)
specifically directs public postsecondary educational institutions to
work collaboratively with school districts to establish a coordinated
system of professional development. Of course we publish, and of
course, we consult. We’re supposed to.
In my own case, I have not earned so much as one cent from school
districts in consulting fees or from the sale of materials for ESOL
in-service training. I have never published a textbook for K-12
students. My articles don’t generate royalties as that is not the
practice among peer reviewed journals. My most recent royalty
generating book is a reference book and is freely available in public
and college libraries. Many of my publications are available, at no
cost, at libraries and through internet sources.
I began phased retirement in 1996. I don’t receive a salary from any
source. I am not paid for my advocacy activities from any source.
I return to the issue. Senate Bill 0286 would harm English language
learners by eliminating the requirement that Reading teachers earn the
300 hour endorsement in ESOL when they are assigned English language
learners. Instead, the bill would slash the requirement to a mere 60
hours of training. Those who would dispute that statement must first
address it. Those who cannot, and choose instead to go on witch hunts
while cravenly cloaked in anonymity only help to make the case
presented so effectively by parents, teachers, and community groups
that Governor Crist vetoed this same bill last session.
2 users commented in " Some thoughts on SB 286 "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackIn the recent Florida Senate PreK-12 Appropriations committee meeting, the DOE selected reading expert testified that Florida’s 300 hour Reading Endorsement was insufficient for providing high quality teachers for ensuring English Language Learners can read and also insufficient for providing high quality teachers to most of Florida’s students since it focused on the very basic readers. The expert recommended revisions to the current Reading Endorsement AND adding a new component for a new total of 360 hours to complete the Reading Endorsement. What happened that causes English Language Learners to be more and more invisible in Florida?
End of session status report on SB 286/HB 491, ESOL Inservice
With their votes in support of amendments to SB 286/HB 491 offered by Representative Carroll, the members of the Florida House of Representatives unanimously demonstrated commitment to maintaining adequate ESOL teacher training standards for Reading teachers. LULAC Florida and the FLSSTESOL Advocacy E-Group thank them for their unanimous support of ESOL students.
The bill has died and the status quo is still in force. English language learners will receive literacy instruction from teachers prepared to provide it as Reading teachers must earn ESOL Endorsement. We encourage our colleagues in Reading to look into the DOE’s reverse crosswalk option for earning ESOL Endorsement and we ask the DOE to set up a task force to seek further improvement along the lines outlined in the second section of the floor amendment. We stand ready to support the Commissioner in that effort.
We appreciate Representative Jennifer Carroll for reaching out to other legislators in an effort to formulate effective policy with regard to English Language Learners. We are grateful to Representatives Zapata, Flores, and Rivera, and to the Dade County Legislative Delegation for their response to statewide concerns by developing creative problem solving approaches.
We thank the parents, educators, community groups, civil rights organizations, education associations, superintendents, school board members and local elected officials, Deans of Colleges of Education, civic leaders, and experts in the education of ESOL students who spoke out in their favor. We thank the Miami-Dade Public School Board members, Superintendent, and staff for their leadership on behalf of ESOL students. Finally, we thank all the policy makers who supported a quality education for ESOL students with their votes, questions, statements, and related efforts over the past two years: Senators Frederica Wilson, Rudy Garcia, Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Nan Rich, Alex Villalobos, Larcenia Bullard; Representatives Anitere Flores, Janet Long, Bill Heller, Jack Seiler, Carlos Lopez-Cantera, David Rivera, Marco Rubio, Darren Soto, J.C. Planas, Yolly Roberson, Joyce Cusack, Ron Saunders, Curtis Richardson, Juan Carlos Zapata; the members of the Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus, and Governor Charlie Crist.
Hispanics now account for about one in four children younger than 5 in the United States and make up more than 15 percent of the U.S. population. Although not all Hispanics are English language learners, almost half of the three and a half million Hispanics in Florida are relatively recent arrivals. We can expect that many will still be learning English, as will their children. Florida Hispanic students are expected to surge by more than 50 percent by 2018.
The rise in the Latino population has been accompanied by significant, if slower, growth among African Americans and Asians. Asians made up the third-largest minority group in the United States, with 15.2 million. American Indians and Alaska natives totaled 4.5 million while native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders were 1 million. Between 1970 and 2000, the share of foreign-born blacks in the overall black population rose nationwide (to 7.8 percent from 1.3 percent) and in all census regions. Among states, the greatest growth was seen in Florida, where over 22 percent of the black population is foreign born.
Florida’s future, and that of the United States, may well hinge on how well we educate language and other minority students for life beyond high school. That means we should all celebrate the demise of this bill. We need all children to learn to read in English and in other languages as well.
Rosa Castro Feinberg, Ph. D.
Associate Professor (Retired)
Florida International University
Manager, Sunshine State TESOL Advocacy Mailing List
Chair, LULAC Florida Education Advisory Committee
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