ELL Resolution Passed by the Board

Recently, the Board of Education passed a resolution revising the teaching of English Language Learners. The resolution implemented a new system of parental choice among ELL programs and emphasizes the need to clearly inform parents about their options. The Board members unanimously voted in favor of passing the resolution. Below are some of the members’ written statements about the resolution.

Board President William Thompson, Jr., Brooklyn representative: “The house is far from built. The success of any improvements will hinge on our ability to clearly articulate for administrators, teachers, parents and students, which program options are available and how to make informed decisions about which program choice is best.

Ninfa Segarra: “At the point of entry, parents must be able to make informed decisions about what is best for their children. No matter the choice, be it bilingual, ESL or intensive, this system must guarantee parents that their children will receive the best possible services and every opportunity to complete their education, and that their children will become productive members of our society…

Sandra Lerner, Bronx representative: “The guidelines are separate and apart from the resolution. While I will vote and do vote for the resolution in a positive manner, I do wish to state that the guidelines appear to me to be contrary to the resolution, and I will await the full implementation plan as directed, for any further assessment.”

Terri Thomson, Queens representative: “This resolution brings parents into the decision-making process and gives them the respect they deserve to act as partners with the schools in charting the future of their children. However, parents cannot act in a thoughtful way, and we will not be able to ‘clearly inform’ them as required by the resolution, if we are not prepared to communicate with them in their language.

Jerry Cammarata, Staten Island: “This resolution is not a resolution of finality, but…a resolution to begin the journey. To begin the journey that really will give us an opportunity now to see what the potential can be within our system so that we don’t talk about monoligualism, and we don’t talk—ever talk—about bilingualism, but we talk about a polylingual capacity in every student.”

—Compiled by Sarah Elzas

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