Education
English Learners Left Behind
August 2008
In a city where more than 170 languages are spoken and over a third of residents are foreign-born, scores of New York public school students struggle to learn English. They are known as English-language learners (ELLs), students who speak a language other than English at home and score below a state-designated level of proficiency in English upon entering the New York City schools.
These students are far less likely to complete high school than English speaking students. At a press conference in early August, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in a celebratory tone that the city's four-year high school graduation has risen to 55.8 percent, while the dropout rate has decreased to 14.7 percent (This was the first time the numbers included students who graduated after summer school).
But the number for the ELLs did not even come close to that. The graduation rate for ELLs is 23.5 percent, rising by 3.1 points from 2006. It is much lower than the rate for two other underperforming groups: Hispanics have a graduation rate of 43 percent, while blacks have a rate of 47.2 percent.
By failing to help so many students graduate, the city, say critics, is "betraying a whole generation of immigrant kids who are struggling to succeed."
"The ELL graduation rates announced today are absolutely deplorable," said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. "With less than a quarter of ELLs graduating after four years, it is clear that Chancellor Joel Klein and the Department of Education must work much, much harder if they are serious about ending the ELL drop-out crisis. At this point, the city needs to act by initiating large scale interventions across the system to help ELL children succeed."
ELL ProgramsAccording to the 2006-2007 statistics from the Department of Education, 139,842 children are designated as ELLs -- about 13.4 percent of the entire public school population. Once a student is determined to be an English-language learner, the city offers the following options supervised by the Department of Education's Office ofEnglish Language Learners:
Transitional Bilingual Education programs include language arts and subject matter instruction in students' native languages and English as well as intensive instruction in English as a second language. As a student develops English proficiency, instruction in English increases and native language instruction decreases.
Dual Language programs provide half of the instruction in English and half in another language, often the native language of the majority of ELLs.
Freestanding English as a Second Language programs provide classes in English.
Challenges Facing StudentsAmong the ELLs in New York City, nearly one in five is Asian. According to a recent report by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, these students are often forced into certificate or GED programs, allowed to drop out with little or no intervention, or expelled. The report offers a number of possible explanations for the low graduation rate.
It criticizes the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind Act, which focuses on performance and pressures schools to strive for high test scores. "Since the No Child Left Behind law was enacted, we have not seen significant improvements in the quality of public education," said Margaret Fung, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund's executive director, in a press release. "Instead, Asian Americans — especially immigrant, poor and non-English speaking students—have been left behind to fend for themselves in securing basic educational services."
Teaching ShortagesAnother problem is the lack of qualified teachers. According to the report, New York had one certified English as a second language teacher for every 116 ELL students. That lags behind other areas, such as Washington state and Massachusetts, where there is one certified ESL teacher for every 76 and 66 English learner respectively.
Asian Pacific American staff, faculty and administrators in New York City public schools are underrepresented in New York City schools, Zeyen Wu, education policy coordinator of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, said in testimony to the New York City Council Education Committee. This deprives students of teachers who could "serve as role models in schools and are familiar with the problems facing" Asian youth," Wu added. "They may be able to better identify potential problems before they escalate into larger issues."
Wu also called for the expansion of the Bilingual Pupil Services, a program that prepares paraprofessionals to become certified teachers in bilingual education, bilingual special education and English as a second language. The program pays for nine credits per semester at any of the participating senior colleges for an accredited program leading to a bachelor's degree and New York State certification, and is open to English speakers who are also fluent in Spanish, Chinese and Haitian-Creole.
In New York City, 66 dual language schools teach curriculum in both English and another language for the benefit of both ELLs and non-ELLs. However, there are only three Chinese language schools and one Korean language school although Chinese and Korean speaking students make up more than 12 percent of the city's English language learners.
Meanwhile, out of the 363 Transitional Bilingual Education programs, which aim to help ELLs quickly transition into English-only classrooms by teaching them subjects such as math and science in their native languages, only 34 are taught in Chinese, and two are taught in Korean. There are no other Asian-language Transitional Bilingual Education Programs.
In its effort to improve secondary education in the city, the Bloomberg administration has shut down many large high schools and opened a number of small high schools. When these schools first opened, some were allowed to exclude English language learners, as well as special education students. Recent figures show students learning English now account for about 12 percent of students at the small schools.
Additional HelpThings might be getting a little better. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn recently announced a $7 million fund that will be available to schools with a large number of high-need ELL students. Elementary, middle and high schools will all have an opportunity to apply for the funding, but will be required to provide a two-to-one match for their chosen programs.
In addition, a number of programs exist to help ELL students who find traditional high school setting too intimidating get a GED. These options are open to non-ELL students as well.
Young Adult Borough Centers have evening academic programs designed to meet the needs of high school students who might be considering dropping out because they are behind academically or because they have adult responsibilities that make attending school in the daytime difficult. The average graduation rate is 44 percent.
Learning to Work makes school more relevant for struggling students by supplementing academic instruction with paid internship and career counseling. In 2007, 9,809 students participated in the program citywide.
Transfer schools are small, academically rigorous, diploma-granting high schools designed to reengage students who have dropped out or fallen behind.
The Quest for Childcare: Few Spaces, Little Information
June 2008
Many parents in New York, particularly lower-income ones, struggle to find safe, affordable childcare. Although New York City offers low-cost or free childcare, there are not enough places for every child. And even when a program is available, many immigrant families do not know how to navigate the complicated system to receive this service.
A new study by the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families makes it clear that the needs of many immigrant children are not being met. According to the 2000 Census, more than 54 percent of children in New York City live in immigrant families. The study focused on six immigrant communities in the city: Bangladeshi, Chinese, Dominican, Haitian, Korean and Russian.
More than 345,500 children under age six from low-income families qualify for city childcare programs, but the city has space for less than 100,000 youngsters. This places a particular burden on families who cannot afford private childcare, which costs $180 per week for preschool and $267 for infant care, the Coalition for Asian American Children study found.
"We want to figure out what kind of political, policy or implementation barriers are keeping immigrant families from accessing these programs," Wayne Ho, executive director of the coalition. "We want to provide a voice for immigrant parents so that they can share what their perspectives, preferences and expectations are for early childhood education."
Faced with a shortage of places, many families resort to informal care, such as unlicensed family members or someone they know socially. However, many immigrants do not even have that option since they work irregular hours. So some immigrant families send their children back to their native countries to be raised by the grandparents. In the Fujianese community, this arrangement is so common that services are available to transport babies between the U.S. and China. Most Fujianese children, though, remain here.
"About 80 percent of our children are Fujianese," said Sandy Kwok Lo, assistant director of the Childhood Henry Street Settlement Day Care Center on the Lower East Side. "Many of their parents work out of state so they entrusted their kids to the grandparents or babysitters. Their communication skills are so low and they are not well versed in American culture. ... They simply have no time or skill to monitor the children."
"Many of these children have developmental, social, and emotional issues," added Lo. "So we are starting to notice the need to refer them to special services."
Lack of Affordable ChildcareCurrently there are three types of early childhood education available in the city, including the Child Care and Head Start programs, administered by the New York City Administration for Children's Service. Child Care is a subsidized program that aims to support working families and is for children up to age 13. Head Start seeks to promote school readiness and child development and is free for children ages 3 to 5 from very low-income families.
The third program is the universal pre-kindergarten program for all 4-year-olds in the city. It is offered as a half-day or full day program in local elementary schools and community-based sites, and there is no eligibility requirement or fees. However, many parents complain that their children did not get into the school of their choice -- or even a school nearby -- and that there are not enough full-day programs.
Meanwhile, according to the coalition study, from 1995 to 2005, New York City has witnessed a major increase in the use of informal care, in which an unregulated caregiver watches up to two children at home. This accompanies a decrease in enrollment in daycare centers and in family and group childcare, where licensed care providers, with an assistant, can take care of up to 12 children at their residence.
To address this, the Administration for Children's Services is launching an ambitious plan called "Project Full Enrollment" to fills all the spaces in the city's childcare programs. The average cost per child including administrative expenses is $13,000 per year. According to this plan, childcare providers will be reimbursed for the actual number of children enrolled rather than the projected budget.
Training ProvidersOnce enrolled in daycare, an immigrant child may confront special issues. The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families study points to a growing need for bilingual teachers and for training to help providers reach and serve the diverse immigrant communities in New York City.
"The greatest need is to hire more bilingual staff," said one of the program directors interviewed. "We saw a dramatic increase in enrollment when bilingual staff was hired, material translated and staff represented the community."
In the Henry Street Settlement Day Care Center, which serves 97 children at full capacity, Lo said she makes sure that at least there is one Chinese-speaking staff in each classroom.
Many providers, though, complain that funding from the city is not adequate to provide the kind of staff and training to better respond to the needs of immigrant families -- particularly given the high cost of real estate in the five borough. Many of them said they need more money to offer translation services.
"The biggest challenge for my program is to ensure that the materials that the parents should be reviewing are available in Chinese," said Nina Piros, director of early childhood programs at the University Settlement on the Lower East Side, which serves 149 children, most of them Chinese. "It is not something that is budgeted in terms of cost for translation. Most programs don't have it covered."
Another problem, Piros pointed out, is finding qualified staff, other than paraprofessional and entry-level employees, who are bilingual Chinese speakers.
"We had openings for a daycare center director and social worker with a MSW (Master of Social Work) last year, and we were hoping to hire bilingual Chinese speakers to reflect our community," said Piros. "But we did not get even one applicant with that kind of background."
Families' Knowledge and AwarenessMany parents, the coalition's report found, experience difficulties obtaining services because of lack of knowledge and language skills. Literacy Assistance Center's Referral Hotline, funded by New York State and New York City, was recently terminated. Now parents have to call 311, the city's official information line. To better reach the immigrant communities, the coalition study calls for more direct outreach in ethnic media. It also advocates a partnership between higher education institutions and communities to research the needs of immigrant communities and provide training for childcare providers.
"I think the biggest challenge really comes down to outreach and education," said Ho, the coalition's executive director. "Immigrant families just don't know what resources are out there. The communications that they get about services are either incorrect regarding whether undocumented immigrants or legal permanent residents can access these programs. These communications are not translated, and if they are translated, the translations are often wrong or incorrect."
That leaves many parents unsure about what to do.
"It is crazy and hard," said a Haitian parent interviewed in the report. "It would be hard to access childcare as a new immigrant even if you speak the language. It is a difficult process anyway."
Many immigrants are reluctant to take advantage of the subsidized childcare because they believe it will hurt their chances for citizenship.
"I think I would prefer to use a private Korean childcare center because it is an easier process and I don't feel comfortable disclosing personal information," said a Korean parent. "If I use any public assistance it could jeopardize my citizenship."
Clearly, though, the demand for childcare remains huge.
"I have people coming from all boroughs to ask me to help them with their applications," said Lo. "Many parents call every week. I must have 10 or 15 pages of waiting list. I don't even know how to return their calls."
Investing in Higher Education
January 2008
Arriving in America at the age of 13 from Macau, Benny Lee knew that education was the best chance he would have for a bright future in his newly adopted country. He studied hard and finished in the top 20 of his class in a high school in Jamaica, Queens.
But when it was time for college, his options were limited because of his parents' modest income. Eventually he chose Baruch College, part of the City University of New York. He did not even apply to any private colleges.
"I felt that private colleges are too expensive, and I didn't want to put big burden to my parents," said Lee, now an information technology executive at an investment bank in Manhattan. "Compared to private colleges, CUNY is a good bargain with competitive programs."
Lee is one of the hundreds of thousands of graduates of CUNY, the largest urban university in the United States with 230,000 students in its 23 institutions. Historically serving a diverse student body, especially those excluded from or unable to afford private universities, CUNY offers education to New York City's working class and immigrants. Thirty-eight percent of its first-time freshmen were born overseas.
Mostly immigrants could not afford the high price of private colleges," said Lee. "CUNY is definitely an alternative to high prices of private colleges and opportunity to allow immigrant students with little money to have a decent college education."
Today CUNY and SUNY, or the State University of New York face a number of challenges, including rising tuition and the fight to provide a quality education. With Gov. Eliot Spitzer promising major changes at the two institutions, many wonder what that will mean for schools that have provided many immigrants with the education they needed to better their lives and the lives of their children.
Keeping the Price DownJohn Liu, a New York City Councilmember from Flushing, Queens, and a graduate of SUNY Binghamton, said public higher education is indispensable to immigrant families. "And it is not just special for immigrants but also for other working-class families," said Liu, who emigrated from Taiwan at 5. "It is important to the equalizing of the playing field."
Liwia Rosamond, a native of Poland, came to New York in 1997 and eventually settled in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. After teaching English as a second language teacher for many years, she earned a Master's degree in French literature and culture from Hunter College, also a CUNY institution.
"CUNY gave me a new career," said Rosamond, who recently found a job teaching French in a high school in Queens. "As an immigrant and adult, I was able to work full-time, pay my New York rent and get my master's degree at Hunter. I believe that this is one of the very few places where you can get a high-quality education at an affordable price."
The city university, though, is more expensive today than it once was. With the aim of serving the underprivileged, CUNY was tuition-free until 1975, when the city's fiscal crisis forced it to impose tuition. Now the four-year colleges charge $4,000 per year while the community colleges are priced at $2,800 per year and receive public funding.
SUNY, the largest university system in the nation with 64 campuses and over 400,000 students, also receives public funds. Its price tag is set at $4,350 for four-year colleges and $3,176 for two-year colleges.
While the tuition rates at CUNY and SUNY have increased by 25 percent or more in the last decade, they still fall behind other major state flagship institutions. For example, the University of Michigan charges from $5,129 to $7,126, and Rutgers University in New Jersey between $8,540 and $9,484. The University of California at Berkeley, widely recognized as the top public university in the country, is priced at about $8,000 per year, while the tuition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranges from $8,440 to $12,232 depending on the major. Out-of-state and international students generally pay more than double the price.
Undocumented Immigrants and Public CollegeAs legal immigrants and their children continue to benefit from the quality education from CUNY and SUNY, things can be more difficult for students without documentation. Ten states (California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington) offer in-state tuition to long-term undocumented students, who were born overseas but raised in America.
The subject recently became a hot issue in the Republican presidential race. In a CNN/YouTube debate with his fellow Republican candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney attacked Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for giving illegal immigrants "special treatment" for offering them publicly subsidized college education. He also criticized former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for "welcoming" illegal immigrants. Both Giuliani and Huckabee support offering in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria.
According to CUNY's official Web site, an undocumented student in New York is eligible for in-state tuition if he or she has attended a New York high school for at least two years and graduated from it, or has attended a New York State program for a General Equivalency Diploma and received a GED issued in New York. In addition, the prospective student must apply for college within five years of high school graduation and file an affidavit stating that he or she has filed or will file for legal residency. The student also must show proof of New York residency.
Undocumented students who graduated from high school with at least a B average can also apply for the Vallone Academic Scholarship ($1,250 per year) if they enroll in college within two semesters after high school graduation and maintain at least a B average. They can also apply for the tuition-free Macaulay Honors College.
"As long as they pay taxes, I think it is right to offer them in-state tuition," said Lee. "A lot of these people pay taxes but do not get any benefit. I don't think it is right."
According to statistics, many of the country's 12 million illegal immigrants pay taxes under a purchased Social Security Number or a government-issued tax ID number for someone without a Social Security number. But they usually are unable to collect welfare or medical benefits except for emergency medical care and a primary and high school education. About $7 billion a year in taxes filed by undocumented immigrants pours into the Social Security Administration.
"New York has a long history of being friendly to all immigrants - both the documented and the undocumented ones," said Rosamond. "These undocumented people usually pay all the taxes just as the people with green cards, and they deserve to be treated like New York residents because they are."
That aside, Liu thinks helping immigrants get an education represents a good investment. "It will benefit the overall society because those who benefit from the education will only come back to make more money and pay more taxes than they would otherwise," he said.
However, according to State Legislature magazine, published by the National Conference of State Legislatures, many American apparently disagree. Some states that grant the in-state tuition are facing lawsuits from people who oppose that. Utah is looking into ending the policy, while Georgia and Arizona have both voted to bar illegal immigrants from receiving the in-state tuition benefit.
Reshaping New York's Public UniversitiesAs the in-state tuition debate continues, a report conducted by Governor Eliot Spitzer's special commission on higher education has suggested that the state increase spending on public universities in the hope of revamping New York's public higher education. Many fear that another tuition hike could be just around the corner.
The 30-member commission, chaired by Hunter Rawlings, a former president of Cornell University, urged the state to create its own low-cost student loan program, and to hire 2,000 new full-time faculty, including 250 eminent scholars in five years.
The preliminary report called for the creation of a $3 billion innovation fund to support research at public and private universities in fields like bioscience, engineering and medicine that can drive economic development. It also called for more focused attention devoted to SUNY's four research campuses in Albany, Binghamton, Stony Brook and Buffalo.
Among other recommendations, the report said support for public universities should be more predictable, proposing a "compact" in which the costs of new investment would be shared by the state and the universities.
Both CUNY and SUNY administration applauded the report, saying it is an urgent matter to keep New Yorkers competitive.
"In 1975, CUNY employed more than 11,000 full-time faculty. Today, 6,500 full-time faculty work at the university," said Matthew Goldstein, chancellor of CUNY. "This is a decrease of more than 40 percent, although our student enrollment has grown to its highest level in over three decades. The commission's recommendation would help to reverse this pronounced decline."
Even if Spitzer embraces the plan, it is expected to face opposition in the legislature. Kenneth LaValle, a Republican senator from Port Jefferson and a member of the commission, said he favored modest, regular tuition increases but opposed having "differential tuition" from campus to campus, which would lead to higher tuition at the research centers.
"No student who attends the state university should have a feeling that their degree is worth less than those who are paying more money," hetold the New York Times. "There were other ways to ensure that the research campuses drew more dollars."