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Californians Together

Championing the Success of English Learners

Action Alerts

Act Now: Help Repeal the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA)

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On July 1, 2019, Senator Rubio amended SB 614, proposing the elimination of the RICA (Reading Instruction Competency Assessment) The RICA is neither aligned to the current English Language Arts standards, the current curriculum framework nor the current teacher performance expectations. Developed in 1996, the RICA also does not reflect current research and instructional practices in literacy.

The bill shifts the evaluation of teachers’ reading and literacy knowledge from the RICA  to university coursework, teacher performance expectations and assessment of literacy competency through the accreditation program. This is good for our teacher candidates, schools and students because teacher candidates will still be required to learn how to teach reading and literacy. SB 614 (Rubio) does not remove this requirement!.

Please sign the letter requesting Assembly Member O’Donnell and members of the committee to vote “yes” on SB 614 (Rubio) and to move the bill out of the Assembly Education Committee so it can  proceed through the legislative process. Letters must be signed by Monday, July 8, 2019 by 10:00 AM.

The members of the Assembly Education Committee need to see that there is tremendous support for SB 614 (Rubio)! Please SIGN NOW!!

Help get AB 1012 out of Assembly Appropriations Committee

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ACTION ALERT!

We need your help NOW to show the members of the California Assembly Appropriations Committee that we are serious about implementing the promise of Proposition 58 of 2016…biliteracy for all students!

Please act now and send a letter by entering your information in the box to the right and click “Start Writing.”

Please sign the letter to let Assembly Member Gonzalez, Chairperson of the Assembly Appropriations Committee know how important this is to our children, schools and communities and the necessity to move off the Suspense File AB 1012 (Reyes) Bilingual and Biliteracy Program Support.

AB 1012 proposes to provide three years of funding, beginning fiscal year 2020-2021 through 2022-2023! These proposed continued investments by the Legislature in bilingual programs, professional learning, building bilingual teacher capacity, and early childhood dual language learning are critical for preparing all of our students, including English learners, to graduate with biliteracy skills and cross-cultural competencies.

AB 1012 is sponsored by Early Edge, CABE, Californians Together and Advancement Project, a strong coalition of bilingual and early childhood education advocates!

Please act now, enter your information in the box to the right and sign the letter today! Join us in ensuring opportunities are made available to all students, including our English learners, in becoming biliterate, bilingual or multilingual and to value the language assets of our state’s diverse student population in the years to come!

ACT NOW

ACTION ALERT: Ask the Governor to Sign AB 2514 (Thurmond) – Growing Bilingual Programs

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We want to thank each of you for sending letters a few weeks ago to get AB 2514 (Thurmond) out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Our voices were heard and the bill passed out of committee unanimously with a bipartisan vote. Your help is now needed to convince Governor Brown to sign AB 2514 (Thurmond) Dual Language Grant Programs into law.

AB 2514 (Thurmond) proposes to provide up to $300,000 in grant funding to eligible schools, county offices of education and consortia so they can either expand or initiate new dual language immersion or developmental bilingual programs. What’s exciting about this bill is that grant funding would also be given to eligible schools, county offices of education, or consortia interested in establishing bilingual programs for their dual language learners in preschools!

Although no funding was allocated in this year’s budget, the signing of AB 2514 by the Governor will allow us to pursue funding next year in the 2019-2020 state budget. The bill is very clear in stating that its provisions will not be implemented if no funding is appropriated.

Letters must be sent to Governor Brown to convince him that the public and members of the education community seek his support to keep the promise of Proposition 58 by promoting and supporting dual language immersion and developmental bilingual programs.

Keeping the Promise of Proposition 58 Multilingual Programs for All Students

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Your help is needed in convincing members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to allow AB 2514 (Thurmond) Dual Language Grant Programs to continue its way through the legislative process!

AB 2514 (Thurmond) proposes to provide up to $300,000 in grant funding to eligible schools, county offices of education and consortia so they can either expand or initiate new dual language immersion or developmental bilingual programs. What’s exciting about this bill is that grant funding would also be given to eligible schools, county offices of education, or consortia interested in establishing bilingual programs for their dual language learners in pre-schools!

The problem is that specific funding for this grant program was not provided for in the 2018-2019 State Budget.  HOWEVER, moving AB 2514 through the legislative process will allow us to pursue funding next year in the 2019-2020 state budget because the bill is very clear in stating that its provisions will not be implemented if there is no funding appropriated for its provisions.

Letters must be sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee to convince them that the public and members of the education community seek the legislature’s support in keeping the promise of Proposition 58, promoting and supporting dual language immersion and developmental bilingual programs by removing AB 2514 (Thurmond) off the “Suspense File” so it can continue its way through the legislative process.

Support Assembly Bill 2514 (Thurmond) to Establish Grants for New and Expanding Bilingual Programs

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We need 3 minutes of your time for the following 2 alerts.  You must respond to each no later than Sunday May 21st, 2018. Your voices will make a difference.

ALERT 1

This letter to Assembly Member Kevin McCarty and Assembly Member Philip Ting request the inclusion in the 2018-2019 State Budget, start-up funding for school districts and consortia’s for the purpose of establishing new or expanding existing dual language immersion or developmental bilingual programs or establishing early learning bilingual programs for our young dual language learners.  Click here to send it to your Legislators, you will be able to sign and send your letter NOW!

ALERT 2

Your letter to the Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the Honorable Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher is needed to move AB 2514 (Thurmond) off the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File to the full Assembly for a vote.  Click here to send your letter!

Help Support Our Dual Language Immersion and Bilingual Programs PreK-12th grade!

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There is an opportunity to provide “seed” and “capacity building” funding to our school districts seeking to expand existing dual language immersion or developmental bilingual programs or to establish new dual language immersion or developmental bilingual programs or early learning dual language learner programs.

AB 2514 (Thurmond) Pupil Instruction: Dual Language Grant Program was introduced by Assembly Member Thurmond on February 14, 2018. This bill is sponsored by CABE and Californians Together in response to feedback from educators that additional resources are required for our school districts to expand or establish new dual language immersion or development bilingual programs as called for in Proposition 58 of November 2016 and overwhelmingly supported by voters! The bill would also allow funding for early learning programs for our dual language learners in pre-school!!

Significant provisions of AB 2514 (Thurmond) include:

Establishes the 3 year Pathways to Success Grant Program proposing to provide up to $300,000 per grantee for a minimum of 10 grants.
Allows local educational agencies or consortia to apply for this funding.
Funding can be used for purposes such as recruitment of bilingual teachers at the pre-school, elementary and secondary levels, on-going professional development for teachers, teacher coaches, establishment and support of language learning materials; instructional materials; and ongoing outreach to families and family engagement.
Convening of grant recipients to share their program models, best instructional practices, curriculum, instructional materials and other resources.
AB 2514 will be heard in the Assembly Education Committee on April 11, 2018. Click below to send a letter of Support Assembly Member O’Donnell, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee. All letters much be received by April 5th.

Let’s implement the promise of Proposition 58, reaffirming the value of multilingualism and biliteracy! Let’s encourage and promote dual language immersion, developmental bilingual programs and early learning dual language learner programs NOW!

Click HERE to send your letter to Assemblymember O’Donnell.