We would like to share with the Hawai‘i TESOL membership an update from TESOL about federal funding that impacts ESL and adult education programs in State Departments of Education, including our Hawai‘i DOE:

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U.S. Federal Spending – FY23 Omnibus UpdateDear Colleagues,
First and foremost, we wish you and your families and communities the happiest of the holidays!
Yesterday, the Senate passed the FY23 spending package that will keep the federal government in operation beyond the Continuing Resolution, set to expire today.Impacting education, the omnibus has increased year over year funding levels for both ESSA (Titles I, II, and III) and for the AEFLA (Title II of WIOA). We are encouraged by the increases while at the same time realizing that much more work (read advocacy) is needed.
The chart below provides a breakdown on the appropriations and shows the largest increase (YoY) to Title I of ESSA. Title III of ESSA has relatively kept up with inflation, while Titles II of ESSA and Title II of WIOA were at level funding.
Act and Title – FY 2022 – FY 2023 – YoY% (year-over-year increase)

  • ESSA Title I – $17.5B – $20.53B – 17%
  • ESSA Title II-A – $2.17B – $2.19B – 1%
  • ESSA Title III – $831.4M – $890M – 7%
  • WIOA Title II (Adult Education) – $704M – $729.1M – 4%

Thank you to all who took their time to voice their support for this vital funding at both the elementary and secondary level and for adult education. Our multilingual learners of English and the educators who support them are the true recipients, the fruit of your labors.

We look forward to next year and the continued and collective efforts of advocates like you!

Sincerely,

Jeff Hutcheson,

Director, Advocacy & Public Policy, TESOL International Association

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You can read more about the specific titles under the Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) on their website [new window]

As a very brief summary of these titles:

  • Title I is for improving state school programs.
  • Title II is for improving teacher education.
  • Title III is for improving language instruction for English learners (ELs).
  • WIOA Title II is for improving adult education programs, usually operated by state DOEs.

TESOL educators in Hawai‘i stand to benefit from the increased or continued funding provided to each of these titles under ESSA through increased positions, training, and supports. Each state will get a proportional allocation from each of these titles based on its public school population, which also factors in the number of students who are eligible for additional services (EL, SPED, free/reduced lunch) and who fall into certain categories (homeless, displaced, migrant, refugee).

While Title III is specifically for EL education, Titles I and II also benefit EL programs, teachers, and students even though these titles are not specifically earmarked for ELs. This last point is also the case for WOIA Title II for those of us who work in adult education programs like McKinley Community School for Adults, Waipahu Community School for Adults, and Maui Community School for Adults. 

The best news is that Title I will have a large increase for school improvement, which is intended mostly for those schools with the largest numbers of high-need students, including ELs, who are not succeeding. Other good news is that Title III will have a modest boost in funding over inflation to support EL programs – this title should in reality be doubled, which is what TESOL and others were advocating for this past year. The not so good news is that the ESSA Title II and WOIA Title II increased funding doesnʻt actually keep up with inflation, resulting in a slight decrease in the spending power of specific state funding allocations; however, at least the funding for these titles were not cut.

Hawai‘i TESOL supported these funding increases through letters to Hawaiiʻs Congressional Delegation and through signing-on to letters written by organizations that lobby directly in Washington, DC. Hawai‘i TESOL encourages its members to reach out to our Hawai‘i Congressional delegation on issues like this that are relevant to us.

Thank you all for your support over the past year!

Shawn Ford

Socio-Political Action Representative