In a recent video address to the National Association of Bilingual Education‘s annual conference in Chicago, Acting Secretary of Education John King said that English learners are an asset to our nation. Speaking in both English and Spanish, he also said there are many benefits in the new ESSA legislation.

King said that, “Under ESSA, states have the opportunity to broaden the definition of educational excellence to ensure that it is well-rounded and incorporates biliteracy and multiliteracy. States have the opportunity to invest in ensuring that all new teachers are ready to work in the diverse settings that characterize our schools, and to see the fact a child that speaks a language other than English at home as an asset rather than as a deficit.”

As reported in EdWeek, “King also highlighted that the new federal law requires districts and states to report additional data on ELLs with disabilities and long-term English-learners, those students who don’t reach a sufficient level of English proficiency to be reclassified as fluent within a set period of time.”

“I ask for your partnership in working to ensure a diverse teacher pipeline including more bilingual teachers, particularly bilingual teachers in content areas like high school math and science,” King also told the NABE audience.

Bilingual programs for Spanish speaking parents to help their kids with reading, English proficiency, and College Awareness can be seen at www.Latinoliteracy.com.

Workshops to help teachers to work with parents of English Learners can be found at The Latino Family Literacy Project. Workshops are held throughout the United States and Webinars are provided throughout the school year.