As we begin to transition from COVID-times to post-COVID-times, TESOL-related political advocacy efforts are picking up both nationally and locally. The pandemic has been hard on everyone, but arguably, it has been the hardest on specific minority groups, including immigrant English-language learners in the public K-college education system. Several national and local reports of success rates of immigrant English-language learners emphasize the importance of addressing learning loss resulting from pandemic restrictions. These reports advocate lobbying federal and state legislatures to increase funding and support of the public education system, specifically to target programs for immigrant English-language learners.
TESOL Advocacy
In early August, I attended the first meeting of its kind organized by the director of the TESOL Advocacy Action Center. The purpose of this brief, virtual meeting was to alert TESOL affiliates to current TESOL advocacy priorities, focusing on lobbying Congressional representatives and senators to support appropriations for English learners and teachers. You can see the list of priorities on the TESOL Advocacy Action Centerʻs web page [new window]. The first two priorities on the list – Fund Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and Take Action for English Language Teachers! – will be the focus of the lobbying.
The first priority is lobbying Congress to not only fund ESSA but to increase the funding for Titles I, II, and III. You can read more about this issue by reading this TESOL 1-pager [new window]. All TESOL members are encouraged to submit this online advocacy form individually on votervoice.net [new window]
The director also said that the TESOL Advocacy Action Center wants to work directly with affiliates to advise them on local issues, so Hawai‘i TESOL needs to keep this in mind when we hear about hear about local legislation and funding issues.
The director closed the meeting by saying that there will be more meetings like this in the future. I provided my contact info to the TESOL Advocacy Action Center to get action alerts and updates, and I will notify the HITESOL membership when appropriate.
In other TESOL advocacy news, several acts and bills about Dreamers and about ESL teacher debt relief didnʻt progress through Congress over the past two years, so we need to pay attention to them being reintroduced or finally passing out of committee so we can lobby our Congressional deligation for their support.
Hawai‘i State Advocacy
On the local front, nothing legislatively regarding immigrant English-language learners and their teachers has been recently proposed to my knowledge, although several organizations have reported on challenges that immigrant English learners have faced during COVID and the teacher shortage crisis that has deepened during COVID.
Hawai‘i Scholars for Education and Social Justice (HSESJ) has written several relevant reports, which HITESOL has signed off on. You can learn more about HSESJ on their website [new window] and read the two research briefs “What We Know About Online Education and How It Affects Equity in Hawai‘i’s Public Schools”and “Racism and Discrimination against Micronesians in Hawai‘i: Issues of Educational Inequity” – both researched and written during COVID – on their website [new window]. If you would like to get updates from HSESJ directly, email them at Infohsesj@gmail.com and ask to be placed on their email list.
The Hawai‘i DOEʻs most recent report “Presentation on Student Academic Status for the 2021-2022 School Year” to the Hawai‘i Board of Education includes data on success rates of K-12 English learners in all content areas. Itʻs clear that English learners fared worse than other groups during the pandemic. For the full report, visit boe.hawaii.gov [new window].
Another community partner that focuses on improving the Hawai‘i public education system is the Hui for Excellence in Education, also known as the He‘e Coalition. HITESOL networks with the He‘e Coalition on legislative issues that are relevant to English-language learners and teachers in Hawai‘i. For more information about this community partner, see https://heecoalition.org
As your socio-political action representative, I will continue to monitor national and local legislation and advocacy efforts and will notify the HITESOL membership when appropriate. Individually, any one of you can advocate for your students and yourself, so please pay attention to national and local news, join email lists for timely announcements, join organizations that interest you, and get involved when possible.
Shawn Ford
Hawai‘i TESOL Socio-political Action Representative