	May/June, 2005
Insufficient Funding, Overwhelming Needs By Michelle Adam, ELL Outlook Staff Writer The San Benito School District is one of the poorest districts in Texas, as well as a border community that has grown accustomed to juggling limited finances with immigrant populations whose needs go far beyond a traditional K-12 education. With about 10,200 students, 2,132 of which are ELLs, San Benito relies on approximately $108 per ELL of federal Title III funds and an additional $218 per ELL (above the average-per-student allotment) from state and local funds. Based on the results of a study that grew out of the Texas case West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District v. Shirley Neeley, which determined that it costs $1,248 more to educate an ELL than an English-proficient student, this $326 per-student allotment for San Benito is considered insufficient. Nonetheless, district administrators and teachers have worked tirelessly, reshuffling resources to meet state and federal testing needs, as well as advocating for the needs of ELLs. According to Heriberto Villarreal, director of federal programs for San Benito, most federal money goes toward ELL supplies and miscellaneous operating expenses, while state and local funds help pay for ELL salaries and bilingual teaching assistants. Unfortunately, only the lower elementary grades currently have teaching assistants. As a result of accountability measures established by then-Texas governor George Bush, San Benito reassigned all of its teaching assistants from upper grades to pre-K through first grade. There previously had been only a few teaching assistants at the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten levels, who were shared among teachers. "Several years ago, we moved assistants to the lower grades to be able to prepare students for the third-grade reading test. We were trying to stay ahead of the game. The first year we had a very good rate of students passing the exam. In my opinion it worked," said Villarreal. "Now that the standards are higher, the percentages of students passing aren't as good. We are trying to play catch-up." San Benito-which consists of 10 elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, and one ninth-grade academy-has at least one bilingual class and one assistant in each class at the pre-K through first grade levels. ELLs are taught in self-contained bilingual classes, and if by fourth grade they pass the appropriate tests in English proficiency, they can move on to classes with all English instruction. The class size ratio for bilingual classes is about the same as for regular classes, 22:1. Unfortunately, classes beyond second grade don't have any assistants to help ELLs learn. "Our ESL population is doing fairly well at the lower levels, but it's a lot harder to get assistants for upper levels. We have requested teacher assistants for that part, but there haven't been the funds," said Villarreal. "We are stretched as far as we can be stretched in terms of the local tax base. We depend deeply on state and federal dollars." Lisa Gutierrez, an ESOL reading teacher for San Benito Veterans' Memorial Ninth Grade Academy, wishes she could have assistants for her ELL students as she once had. "We have the newcomers at this level. The ELL students often come with little competency in their own language. Over the past three years-this is my 15th year teaching-we have seen fewer and fewer students come with formal schooling and native language competence," she said. "I feel it is necessary to have more resources and funding. ELLs need a whole lot more than we can give them. We need at least one certified teacher and assistant in each class. It is essential that these students receive one-on-one assistance." Gutierrez is one of three bilingual teachers instructing more than 50 ELLs in reading, math, and language arts at San Benito's Ninth Grade Academy. The campus, which was broken off from the local tenth- to twelfth-grade high school last year, provides a place for ELLs to transition before entering high school. Here, Gutierrez teaches her students in two-block periods-often explaining concepts in Spanish while teaching in English-and the other two teachers also each instruct for two-block periods. "After our sheltered classes, these students go to the high school to regular English-speaking classes, except for one ESL class [among eight class periods] they may get for half a year every year," said Gutierrez. "We roll them out on a line and then leave them dangling. Some of them are in classes where teachers are not using ESL strategies. There are no assistants, and if the students are newcomers to this country with a third- or fourth-grade education, we look at cases of failure in these classes." According to Gutierrez, "the dropout rate for these students is disproportionately high. We are very concerned now that we have been moved from the high school that the students lack support. They are in a new country, culture, and with a new language and depend a lot on teachers for guidance and support. The semi-illiterate students in their own languages are the ones that fall off the track. We are afraid of losing them." Gutierrez would like to develop a high school ESL cohort, which currently doesn't exist. Instead, former ELLs who are now at the high school call her and the other ninth-grade bilingual teachers, reaching out for support. "A lot of them are feeling the pinch and feeling lost. The pressure is also on for these students to take the statewide exit tests." The demands of No Child Left Behind testing have only added to the work that teachers like Gutierrez face with limited resources. "Our ELLs are being held accountable to the same standards as other students without the funding to get it done," she said. Or, as Villarreal pointed out, "We don't have the funds to meet the requirements, yet it appears the federal and state governments are pushing districts to push ELLs into the mainstream sooner than perhaps they should." San Benito, like so many districts with growing immigrant numbers, continues to see an increase in its school-age ELL population. Carmen Ramos, an instructional coach for San Benito's bilingual department, said that in the past 15 years the ELL population has more than doubled: "The numbers of students joining our district are increasing and many of them are ELLs." As more ELLs enter the schools, Gutierrez is grateful for the fact that ELL classrooms are well equipped with books and other supplies such as computers, and that ELLs receive tutoring support when needed. She also believes her district benefits greatly from large amounts of ongoing professional development and financial support for teachers who want to receive additional degrees or certificates to educate ELLs. But as Gutierrez pointed out, "A lot of teachers do not want to work with this population." While funding, then, is only part of the equation, it plays a pivotal role in helping ELLs in this poor border district receive an adequate education. Fortunately, there may be good news on the horizon. At press time for this newsletter, the Texas Legislature was discussing an education bill that would increase weights for ELLs (percentage of state additional funds given for ELL education) from an additional .10 (10 percent for ELLs) to a range of .12 to .30 for students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. "It's a pretty substantial increase," said Harrison Keller, director of research for the Texas Speaker of the House. "I think it shows an awareness of the demographics of the state and that we need to do more for students with limited English proficiency." As ELLs increasingly populate Texas schools like San Benito, and educators like Ramos and Gutierrez work hard to provide for them, Keller is optimistic that help is on the way. As he concluded, "It's pretty encouraging." Editor's Note: Articles on federal and state funding for ELLs appeared in the March/April 2005 issue of The ELL Outlook (http://www.coursecrafters.com/ELL-Outlook/2005/mar_apr/index.html). If you have any comments about this article or questions for for the author, please send them to: alex@coursecrafters.com.
Copyright © 2005 Course Crafters, Inc.® All rights reserved.

May/June, 2005

Insufficient Funding, Overwhelming Needs

By Michelle Adam, ELL Outlook Staff Writer

The San Benito School District is one of the poorest districts in Texas, as well as a border community that has grown accustomed to juggling limited finances with immigrant populations whose needs go far beyond a traditional K-12 education. With about 10,200 students, 2,132 of which are ELLs, San Benito relies on approximately $108 per ELL of federal Title III funds and an additional $218 per ELL (above the average-per-student allotment) from state and local funds.

Based on the results of a study that grew out of the Texas case West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District v. Shirley Neeley, which determined that it costs $1,248 more to educate an ELL than an English-proficient student, this $326 per-student allotment for San Benito is considered insufficient. Nonetheless, district administrators and teachers have worked tirelessly, reshuffling resources to meet state and federal testing needs, as well as advocating for the needs of ELLs.

According to Heriberto Villarreal, director of federal programs for San Benito, most federal money goes toward ELL supplies and miscellaneous operating expenses, while state and local funds help pay for ELL salaries and bilingual teaching assistants.

Unfortunately, only the lower elementary grades currently have teaching assistants. As a result of accountability measures established by then-Texas governor George Bush, San Benito reassigned all of its teaching assistants from upper grades to pre-K through first grade. There previously had been only a few teaching assistants at the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten levels, who were shared among teachers.

"Several years ago, we moved assistants to the lower grades to be able to prepare students for the third-grade reading test. We were trying to stay ahead of the game. The first year we had a very good rate of students passing the exam. In my opinion it worked," said Villarreal. "Now that the standards are higher, the percentages of students passing aren't as good. We are trying to play catch-up."

San Benito-which consists of 10 elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, and one ninth-grade academy-has at least one bilingual class and one assistant in each class at the pre-K through first grade levels. ELLs are taught in self-contained bilingual classes, and if by fourth grade they pass the appropriate tests in English proficiency, they can move on to classes with all English instruction. The class size ratio for bilingual classes is about the same as for regular classes, 22:1.

Unfortunately, classes beyond second grade don't have any assistants to help ELLs learn. "Our ESL population is doing fairly well at the lower levels, but it's a lot harder to get assistants for upper levels. We have requested teacher assistants for that part, but there haven't been the funds," said Villarreal. "We are stretched as far as we can be stretched in terms of the local tax base. We depend deeply on state and federal dollars."

Lisa Gutierrez, an ESOL reading teacher for San Benito Veterans' Memorial Ninth Grade Academy, wishes she could have assistants for her ELL students as she once had. "We have the newcomers at this level. The ELL students often come with little competency in their own language. Over the past three years-this is my 15th year teaching-we have seen fewer and fewer students come with formal schooling and native language competence," she said. "I feel it is necessary to have more resources and funding. ELLs need a whole lot more than we can give them. We need at least one certified teacher and assistant in each class. It is essential that these students receive one-on-one assistance."

Gutierrez is one of three bilingual teachers instructing more than 50 ELLs in reading, math, and language arts at San Benito's Ninth Grade Academy. The campus, which was broken off from the local tenth- to twelfth-grade high school last year, provides a place for ELLs to transition before entering high school. Here, Gutierrez teaches her students in two-block periods-often explaining concepts in Spanish while teaching in English-and the other two teachers also each instruct for two-block periods.

"After our sheltered classes, these students go to the high school to regular English-speaking classes, except for one ESL class [among eight class periods] they may get for half a year every year," said Gutierrez. "We roll them out on a line and then leave them dangling. Some of them are in classes where teachers are not using ESL strategies. There are no assistants, and if the students are newcomers to this country with a third- or fourth-grade education, we look at cases of failure in these classes."

According to Gutierrez, "the dropout rate for these students is disproportionately high. We are very concerned now that we have been moved from the high school that the students lack support. They are in a new country, culture, and with a new language and depend a lot on teachers for guidance and support. The semi-illiterate students in their own languages are the ones that fall off the track. We are afraid of losing them."

Gutierrez would like to develop a high school ESL cohort, which currently doesn't exist. Instead, former ELLs who are now at the high school call her and the other ninth-grade bilingual teachers, reaching out for support. "A lot of them are feeling the pinch and feeling lost. The pressure is also on for these students to take the statewide exit tests."

The demands of No Child Left Behind testing have only added to the work that teachers like Gutierrez face with limited resources. "Our ELLs are being held accountable to the same standards as other students without the funding to get it done," she said. Or, as Villarreal pointed out, "We don't have the funds to meet the requirements, yet it appears the federal and state governments are pushing districts to push ELLs into the mainstream sooner than perhaps they should."

San Benito, like so many districts with growing immigrant numbers, continues to see an increase in its school-age ELL population. Carmen Ramos, an instructional coach for San Benito's bilingual department, said that in the past 15 years the ELL population has more than doubled: "The numbers of students joining our district are increasing and many of them are ELLs."

As more ELLs enter the schools, Gutierrez is grateful for the fact that ELL classrooms are well equipped with books and other supplies such as computers, and that ELLs receive tutoring support when needed. She also believes her district benefits greatly from large amounts of ongoing professional development and financial support for teachers who want to receive additional degrees or certificates to educate ELLs. But as Gutierrez pointed out, "A lot of teachers do not want to work with this population."

While funding, then, is only part of the equation, it plays a pivotal role in helping ELLs in this poor border district receive an adequate education. Fortunately, there may be good news on the horizon. At press time for this newsletter, the Texas Legislature was discussing an education bill that would increase weights for ELLs (percentage of state additional funds given for ELL education) from an additional .10 (10 percent for ELLs) to a range of .12 to .30 for students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12.

"It's a pretty substantial increase," said Harrison Keller, director of research for the Texas Speaker of the House. "I think it shows an awareness of the demographics of the state and that we need to do more for students with limited English proficiency."

As ELLs increasingly populate Texas schools like San Benito, and educators like Ramos and Gutierrez work hard to provide for them, Keller is optimistic that help is on the way. As he concluded, "It's pretty encouraging."

Editor's Note: Articles on federal and state funding for ELLs appeared in the March/April 2005 issue of The ELL Outlook (http://www.coursecrafters.com/ELL-Outlook/2005/mar_apr/index.html).

If you have any comments about this article or questions for for the author, please send them to: alex@coursecrafters.com.