On Feb. 11, members of Indiana's English as a Second Language Task Force traveled to Indianapolis to speak to the House Ways and Means Committee.
The Task Force, which includes Warsaw Community Schools Director of ESL Wendy Wildman Long, talked about the state Non-English Speaking Program. They encouraged the state legislatures to keep funding for the program at the current level, at least.
The program is a state-funded program to supplement the education of Indiana limited English proficient students. Money for the program is allocated each October to all school districts that report limited English proficient students.The committee, according to Wildman Long, not only agreed to keep funding for 2009-2010 at nearly $7 million, but also recommend it be increased to $8 million. The program is part of the school funding formula under House Bill 1723. The bill is now waiting to go before the Senate for approval.
The Non-English Speaking Program was started during the 1999-2000 school year. At that time, there were 9,114 English as a second language students in Indiana. Since then, the state has experienced a 409 percent growth, according to information provided by the Task Force. In 2008-09, the state's ESL population in kindergarten through 12th was 46,417.
Warsaw School Board member Kent Adams was a state senator in 1999 and was instrumental in getting the initial funding into the state budget that year.
In a telephone interview Thursday afternoon, Adams said prior to being a senator, he worked in the Goshen School System. Even then, they had a high percentage of Hispanics.
When Adams became a senator, representatives of Goshen came to him about the need for funding to address ESL student education. Adams was on the Senate Finance Committee at that time.
The funding bill originated in the House, but the Senate Finance Committee added funding for the Non-English Speaking Program. The added funding met resistance.
Adams said it met with resistance because people said the non-English speaking students needed to learn English. Adams agrees that's true, but schools are dealing with kids whose parents brought them to this country and who need educated.
"These youngsters are thrown into a foreign environment at no fault of their own. You've got to address the problem early on or you'll have to address it later, which may cost more money," said Adams.
He said the non-English speaking students are good kids. They participate in arts, sports and other curricular activities like church youth groups.
"I think it's been a big asset," said Adams of the Non-English Speaking Program.
Eventually, the funding for the program was approved at $75 per child for 1999-2000.
There are 231 different languages represented in Indiana's elementary and secondary school population. Of the 292 Indiana school districts, 260 have ESL students as of the 2007-08 school year, according to information provided by the Task Force.
At Warsaw Community Schools, there were 196 ESL students in 1998-99. That grew to 500 in 2001-02, 835 in 2005-06 and 1,035 in 2008-09.
The non-English speaking population at WCS represents 27 different languages in elementary, middle and high school. In the past 10 years, WCS has experienced a 428 percent increase in ESL students. The ESL population represents 14 percent of WCS's total population.
Though the ESL population has boomed, state funding for the Non-English Speaking Program was capped at $700,000 from 1999 to 2007. While that cap provided for $75 per student during the 1999-2000 school year, by 2006-07 it only provided $19.54 per student.
Finally, for 2007-08, state funding for the program was increased to almost $7 million, providing for $162.19 per student to the 238 school corporations receiving the funds. That same $7 million amount in 2008-09 provided $149.91 per student when the number of ESL students increased from 42,721 in 2007-08 to 46,417 in 2008-09.
Along with Wildman Long, other members of the Task Force who attended the House Ways and Means Committee hearing were Patricia Morita-Mullany, Lawrence Township Community Schools; Peggy Dellahousey-Harrington, Hammond School Corp.; Marilee Updike, Indianapolis Public Schools; and Debbie Thomas, Columbus/Bartholomew School District. The members of the Task Force represent rural and urban schools, and schools located in the southern, middle and northern parts of the state.
The hearing Feb. 11, Wildman-Long said, lasted from about 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Task Force was the last group the House committee heard from that day and the committee stayed longer than normal to hear from the Task Force, she said.
"I think it's interesting that we have a voice," Wildman Long said. The committee wanted to hear from people from other parts of the state, not just the Indianapolis area, she said. "I felt that was true. It makes me feel good about the whole process."
She said the House Ways and Means Committee wanted to hear and see a lot of data, and the Task Force was able to provide that.
"It was exciting to be there and think one can make a difference," she said.
