Studies show lack of Latino teachers in the U.S. is a growing issue

Here is the key point of this March 13, 2018 article that underscores the depth of the current crisis.  

"The percentage of Latino teachers nationwide lags far behind the fast-growing percentage of Latino students in the nation’s public school system."  

Many of us are working to address this through Grow Your Own educator projects. Academia Cuauhtli, which is now entering its 6th year, is one such project. 

By "grow," we mean both creating pathways into the teaching profession and growing teachers' critical consciousness.  That is, as community-based organizations, colleges and universities, we work closely with schools and school districts to establish partnerships, provide professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers, as well as offer curriculum and pedagogy at the higher education level that is social justice, community-centered, place-based, and interdisciplinary in ways that map onto the burgeoning movement for Ethnic Studies—locally, as well as nationally.

Very exciting work.  More on all of this in the weeks and months to come.

Sí se puede!  Yes we can!

-Angela Valenzuela

#GYOteachers

Studies show lack of Latino teachers in the U.S. is a growing issue

Despite comprising a quarter of the student population in U.S. schools, Latinos account for just eight percent of teachers. Schools across the country want to know: How can that be changed? 

By Emily Neil | March 13, 2018 | Al Día Education

Emily Neil

According to a recent study from the Center for American Progress released in February, the percentage of Latino teachers nationwide lags far behind the fast-growing percentage of Latino students in the nation’s public school system. Though Latino students make up almost a quarter of the student population in schools nationwide, and that number is expected to grow, only about eight percent of teachers throughout the country identify as Latino. 

The study shows that California has the widest gap between the percentages of Latino students and teachers, at 36.4 percent. Pennsylvania is in the lower half of state rankings, with a gap of 7.9 percent. 

The disproportionate lack of Latino teachers causes problems for both Latino teachers and students, a report from the Education Trust, also released in February, found. Of the sample of 90 teachers from five states and the District of Columbia who were participated in focus groups as part of the Education Trust study, many reported that they are relied upon in their school communities to spend additional time and effort providing translation and interpretation for parents and staff — a role which on top of teaching responsibilities makes for a heavy workload, especially if they might be one of only a few bilingual teachers and staff members at a school where the majority of parents are Spanish-speaking. 

For students, the gap means that they are not often able to see themselves represented in teaching positions and positions of authority. Latino students currently lag behind other groups in graduation rates from both high school and institutions of higher education. Studies have shown that for students of color, having teachers that reflect their identities has the benefit of providing them with role models, higher standards for their own efforts, and a deeper cultural understanding of the context of their lives and backgrounds.

The gap could grow even more. According to some reports, an estimated 20,000 teachers are eligible for DACA or are current DACA recipients, and of these 20,000 about 90 percent are Latino. If, barring congressional legislation, the Trump administration’s injunction to end the program is upheld or enacted, the loss of these already certified and experienced Latino teachers would be a blow to creating a more diverse teacher population. 

The CAP study concluded with recommendations for continuing to address the diversity gap for Latino teachers by recruiting more and maintaining those Latino teachers that are already working in the system. The recommendations include: passage of a clean Dream Act; increasing federal funding to attract more Latinos to teaching; and developing high-quality alternative teaching certification programs that would attract more Latinos. 

“Grow Your Own” programs are pointed out by the Education Trust report as one example of a successful effort to put that last recommendation into action. School districts in Texas, Illinois, California, and other states have begun to implement these programs, which support paraprofessionals, classroom aides, and other support staff in schools — a group shown to be more representative of Latinos and other populations - with tuition assistance and other services in order to attain their teacher certification.

MALDEF Statements on DACA Ruling

Great news for DACA recipients in light of the request from multiple states to deny it.  Among other things, this means that our DACA teachers can relax for now.  After all, ending it would have been catastrophic for close to 9,000 teachers and, of course, their many students who would have lost their teacher. 

The short of this for any DACA recipient is that if you are up for renewal, then please do so.  In the meantime, the states will likely challenge this ruling by Judge Hanen in a case that will likely go to the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, hats off to team MALDEF for their unflagging defense of our community.


-Angela Valenzuela

MALDEF STATEMENTS ON DACA RULING

https://www.maldef.org/news/releases/2018_08_31_MALDEF_Statements_on_DACA_Ruling/

August 31, 2018

Los Angeles, CA - Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at MALDEF, and Karla Perez, a MALDEF client, issued the following statements in response to a federal court ruling today denying a request by Texas and nine other states for an injunction to block renewals of grants of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to hundreds of thousands of young immigrants nationwide. 

MALDEF represents 22 defendant-intervenors in Texas, et al. v. United States, a lawsuit filed against the federal government in May challenging the legality of DACA. MALDEF was permitted to intervene in the case on behalf of the DACA recipients after arguing that the Trump administration, which opposes DACA, would not vigorously defend their interests. 

In August, Judge Andrew S. Hanen of United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas held a hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction to force the federal government to cease accepting new DACA applications, and to prevent renewals of current grants of deferred action pending resolution of the lawsuit. 

Please attribute the following statement to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF: 

“As MALDEF has long contended, there are legal consequences for Texas in delaying its challenge to DACA for six years. Today’s decision correctly recognizes that the balance of possible injuries and the public interest weigh heavily in favor of allowing DACA renewals to continue, as currently required by orders from other federal courts around the country. While MALDEF continues to disagree adamantly with the judge’s views on the legality of DACA under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), and on whether the state of Texas even has standing – as required by the Constitution – to challenge DACA, today’s court decision appropriately leaves DACA in place with respect to over 100,000 Texans and hundreds of thousands of others nationwide. 

“The state of Texas has received, as have each of the other states challenging DACA, ongoing and substantial benefits to its economy and community from DACA recipients and their continuing contributions. Texas should drop its abominable lawsuit and puts its large congressional delegation to work securing permanent protection for DACA youth through federal legislation. The time for craven political lawsuits is long over; the time for serious policy solutions is overdue.” 

Please attribute the following statement to Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for MALDEF: 

“Judge Hanen recognized that the delay by Texas and other states proves that they are not truly harmed by DACA and that basic fairness requires that DACA recipients be allowed to continue working in and contributing to the U.S. until these legal issues are resolved.” 

Please attribute the following statement to Karla Perez, a defendant-intervenor in the case and a recipient of DACA: 

“DACA has allowed me, like my fellow DACA recipients across the country, to live life without fear, pursue our dreams, and support our families and communities. Today’s favorable ruling brings joy and relief to many young immigrants and their communities who have been waiting to hear whether DACA would be blocked. 

“I volunteered at a DACA workshop just yesterday and met with parents, young immigrants and students who shared what they have been able to accomplish for themselves and their families with DACA. I know today, just like me, these DACA recipients and thousands across the country breathe a sigh of relief knowing we can move forward with our lives while this fight in the courts continues. I’m proud to be an intervenor in this case and look forward to seeing our legal team uplift the experiences of DACA recipients because this case cannot be about us without us.” 

Read a timeline of DACA litigation here.

---

Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the "Latino Legal Voice for Civil Rights in America" MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.

Glad to see Erica L. Green of the New York Times provide coverage on DACA teachers whose future is in limbo and fraught with fear and uncertainty.  One of them, Karen Reyes, teaches deaf toddlers in Austin, Texas.

Ending DACA will impact close to 9,000 teachers and countless numbers of children whose lives they touch and to whom we are simply indebted for their wonderful contributions in our nation's classrooms.  

If a path to citizenship for DACA recipients does not happen—and we certainly hope that this is what will actually occur—we will look back on this chapter in our national history as one of the more shameful, oppressive ones.

-Angela Valenzuela

With DACA in Limbo, Teachers Protected by the Program Gird for the Worst

By ERICA L. GREENFEB. 1, 2018 

Karen Reyes spends her days teaching a group of deaf toddlers at Lucy Read Pre-Kindergarten School in Austin, Tex., how to understand a world they cannot hear.

For the first time in her four-year teaching career, Ms. Reyes, 29, is at a loss. One of nearly 9,000 educators protected under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, Ms. Reyes has struggled to explain to her students, through sign language and pictures, the uncertainty of her future.

When President Trump rescinded the program in September, he gave Congress until early March to find a replacement before deportations are set to begin for the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children who gave their names to the government and were granted work permits. Ms. Reyes’s teaching days may be numbered — to 119 to be exact.

“I don’t know what I’m going to tell them,” Ms. Reyes said through tears. “They understand when I go on an airplane. Maybe they’ll just think I’m on a never-ending flight.”

Educators played a crucial role in helping young unauthorized immigrants realize DACA’s potential. The National Education Association, for instance, held clinics at which it encouraged eligible families to apply for the program, and worked with school districts to declare themselves “safe zones” for undocumented students and their families.

Much to the chagrin of educators and advocates, the program, created in 2012 by President Barack Obama, has become a bargaining chip for the White House. Mr. Trump has conditioned its codification in law on Democratic acceptance of tough demands, including an end to decades of family-based migration policies, a wall on the Mexican border and a crackdown on other immigrants in the country illegally.

“Every day, educators are being told to forget about the fact that at any given moment the rug will be pulled out of your lives and you may lose your job,” said Lily Eskelsen García, the president of the N.E.A., the nation’s largest labor union. “To see them treated in this despicable way, to see them treated as pawns, is just not fair.”

Mr. Trump recently said he supported a path to citizenship for DACA recipients who “do a great job,” a commitment he reiterated in his State of the Union address, which was attended by several DACA recipients — including Ivonne Orozco, who was recently named New Mexico’s Teacher of the Year.

Ms. Reyes resents that she has to prove her worth, beyond her use of her newfound freedom to teach in America’s classrooms.

“There’s so much pressure to be a perfect immigrant,” Ms. Reyes said. “They basically want us to save babies from burning buildings, have a 5.0 GPA and become doctors. But I’m just teaching these tiny humans to be great Americans.”

Ms. Reyes was brought to the United States from Monterrey, Mexico, by her mother at age 2. When she thinks of home, she thinks of the only one she can remember, in San Antonio — a big city with a small-town feel, where she and her grandmother would pick pecans from a tree in the front yard. Her childhood was “all-American,” she said, recalling late afternoons at marching band practice, at the Y.M.C.A. or selling Girl Scout cookies.

The only thing that distinguished her life from those of her friends was that she spoke Spanish at home, and her mother was strict. When she was 14, she found out why.

Her friends wanted to take a shopping trip to South Padre Island, then Laredo, on the Texas border with Mexico, but her mother forbade her from going because if she came upon an immigration checkpoint, she would not have the paperwork to pass.

“It changes the trajectory of your life,” Ms. Reyes said.

The barriers of being undocumented became more apparent after that — especially in applying to college. But with teachers’ help, she secured private scholarships for a graduate school program for special education teachers who wanted to teach the hearing-impaired.

She received her master’s degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and now educates six hearing-impaired 3- and 4-year-olds.

“It’s like a game of charades in my classroom everyday, but we have a lot of fun,” Ms. Reyes said. “We’re on a journey together.”

Hugo Arreola, who received DACA protection in 2012, is grappling with guilt.

Mr. Arreola works at the Phoenix high school from which he graduated, with 200 DACA recipients, many of whom he persuaded to apply for the program.

“Now, it’s basically putting their trust in the government to not abuse what started as an opportunity, to make deportation lists,” he said. “It’s a lot of anxiety and fear, and questions.”

Vicente Rodriguez, an aspiring English teacher, is preparing for the worst. Timing has not been kind to his journey. He was the only one of his mother’s five children born in Mexico, because a family emergency took her back home for a few months. His DACA permit will expire before he can complete his master’s program in teaching.

He said if he is forced to leave, he will still try to teach.

“I’m educated, so I can go anywhere in the world, but I wanted to be here,” he said. “I wanted to give back — to be that one good teacher a child remembers — in the country that gave me this opportunity.”

Across the country, teachers have grappled with the immigration debate’s aftershocks. They deal with crying colleagues, students acting out after a family member is deported and trembling when classmates talk about the past night’s news, and parents skipping teacher conferences and school events.

Ms. García, the N.E.A. president, blamed Mr. Trump.

“It started at the beginning of this administration, where for the first time in history children cried over who got elected president because of the toxic campaign around immigrants,” she said. “Now, there are crying teachers.”

Educators for Excellence, a teacher-led advocacy group, has helped lead grass-roots efforts to urge Congress to codify DACA, circulating petitions and writing a letter to the president outlining the effects his policies have had on their students.

And teachers have turned their classrooms into safe havens for undocumented students and families.

“We all know we can’t focus on multiplication tables right now,” said Jessica Cuellar, a member of the organization’s DACA team and an assistant principal at a California charter school. “We’re just listening to them and trying to make them feel safe.”

Carlos Rodriguez, an eighth-grade teacher in Chicago, has used his experience to teach his students lessons of survival.

He remembers coming to the United States at age 7 with his sister and a dozen other people, traveling through cities and towns, past wire fences and a huge river. He remembers the “flying monster in the air” that he later learned was a helicopter, and the dark place whose door would not open, which he later learned was a train.

“We educators, we are in the trenches,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “We see these young people on a daily basis. We see the potential that we can maximize to benefit a country that they call their country. What are we waiting for?”

A version of this article appears in print on February 2, 2018, on Page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Protected For Now, Teachers Await Fate. 

URGENT REQUEST: Call Congress at (478) 488-8059 and Call for a Clean DREAM Act

Friends,

This is an urgent request.  Join me today in calling this number to demand support (478) 488-8059 for a Clean DREAM Act. 

Our young people, our daughter, Luz Valenzuela Zamora, included, are currently in Washington, D.C. with United We Dream staging hourly protests.  She, and all of our youth there, are a source of pride like no other for those of us who have labored and struggled for freedom and justice for all throughout our lives.  

You can in fact dial (478) 488-8059 multiple times as the number cycles through offices.  In addition to our own Senators here in Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, I've already placed 6 calls since yesterday and got a chance to connect each time with a different member of Congress with this same number.  Simply call and urge them to pass a clean DREAM Act and tell them how important it is to you.  You can and should also call your own specific Congressional members.  Go to this link to get their names and contact info.

Everyday that Congress fails to pass the DREAM Act, 122 young people lose their DACA status and run the risk of deportation.  C'mon everybody.  These young people are already exemplary, law-abiding individuals who want nothing more than to stay in a country they already call their home.  

You must know that without DACA our country could lose a whopping 20,000 teachers currently working as teachers in our nation's classrooms (see U.S. could lose an estimated 20,000 teachers, many bilingual, as DACA is phased out).

As you can read from this story, several are already in dire straits after having gotten arrested outside of the offices of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and New York and Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo.  They are not provding them their names and they are on a hunger strike.

You can keep up with the movement at this link:  United We Dream 

-Angela Valenzuela

#NoDreamNoDeal #Dreamact #daca

 #CleanDREAMAct   #DreamActNow

7 Dreamers Arrested During Sit-In At Schumer And Curbelo Offices

The so-called "Dreamers" refused to provide their names and fingerprints, and all agreed to go on a hunger strike, a media rep said.

https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/7-dreamers-arrested-schumer-curbelo-offices

By Daniel Hampton, Patch Staff | Dec 17, 2017 5:08 pm ET | Updated Dec 18, 2017 11:54 am ET

22

WASHINGTON, DC —Seven so-called "Dreamers" as well as one of their allies were arrested during a sit-in Friday at the Washington, D.C., offices of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, according to a media representative from an advocacy organization. And now they're going on a hunger strike and facing possible deportation.
A Facebook post on behalf of Erika Andiola said she was among those arrested, and said they plan to remain jailed until Schumer and Curbelo publicly confirm they have enough votes to block any spending bill that doesn't come with a "clean Dream Act."
President Donald Trump eliminated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, in September, cutting off all new applications and providing a six-month window for renewal applications from recipients whose permits were set to expire between Sept. 5, 2017 and March 5, 2018.
"DACA recipients are demanding that Members of Congress block any spending bill that does not include a clean DREAM Act," according to the advocacy group Fight For Our Dream.
In a video of the sit-in at Schumer's office, one man said Schumer has a responsibility to listen to his constituents and demands Schumer support a clean Dream Act.
"As Minority Leader, he has the capacity to gather all the democrats to stand up for the community that he says he supports so much," the unidentified man said. "As a Dreamer and a New Yorker, I am here making that demand. And I will not leave until he listens to what we're saying."
Andiola, who describes herself as a native of Durango, Mexico, on the organization's website, and the others will remain held in police custody until at least Tuesday morning, her Facebook post said. Candice Fortin, a media representative for the group, said the arrestees refused to give their names and fingerprints. There was an arraignment Saturday, she said, and none are cooperating.
"Right now they are refusing to give their names and fingerprints," she said. "It's basically acting as a jail strike."
They're scheduled to appear Tuesday for a trial before a jury, Fortin told Patch.
"They also are all in agreement to do a hunger strike," Fortin said. "They refuse to eat."
Andiola's Facebook post said they had been brought before a judge and the government asked to hold them in response to their noncooperation. Attorneys for the seven did not oppose the hold, in accordance with their clients' wishes. They believe U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was contacted regarding Andiola.
A message left with ICE wasn't immediately returned.
"Every day they are in police custody the danger of additional ICE engagement and then deportation grows, as it grows for all undocumented youth with each day that goes by without passage of the Dream Act," the Facebook post said.
Andiola's profile said her family came to America to escape domestic violence.
"I am risking arrest today because there are thousands of people who are losing hope, who feel attacked and this is the time for us to model courage and to stand together because that was the only way we were able to win DACA in the first place," the website said. "That's how will we win the Dream Act now."
She said they are "undocumented and unafraid."
Curbelo represents southern Florida's 26th congressional district, which includes Monroe County and parts of Miami-Dade county. He was first elected three years ago.
Patch wasn't immediately able to reach pre-trial services, Schumer's office, Curbelo's office, or the DC Department of Corrections.
Photo credit: Candice Fortin

How Texas can end its bilingual teacher shortage

Even as we read this terrible news account on how the U.S. could lose an estimated 20,000 teachers, many bilingual, as DACA is phased out—which many of us hope will not actually happen—UNT Dallas is moving in a different direction under the excellent leadership of Dean John Gasko and many others, including Macario Hernandez, Hector Flores, Florencia Velasco Fortner, president and CEO of The Concilio, former UNT-Dallas Dean Sheryl Santos-Hackett.

Artist Hector Rodriguez

I love their super-hero, marketing approach, as it helps make the field attractive—which it of course is and can be—for the right individuals.

Dallas' Grow Your Own (GYO) educator project is an initiative of the National Latino Education Research and Policy Project (NLERAP [pronounced "nel-rap"]) cited in my edited volume, Growing Critically Conscious Teachers.  Our dream is to grow critically conscious teachers everywhere—a majority of whom we hope are additionally bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate.  I'm so happy to see H-E-B and the Meadows Foundation come through for our community in Dallas, Texas.

I should additionally note that Dean Gasko is a former student of mine and graduate of the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership (formerly, the Department of Educational Administration) at the University of Texas at Austin.  You make us very proud, John.
 

This is not only a game changer, but also a dream come true. So I'm mostly happy for our students and our state.

Angela Valenzuela

c/s

One in five kids struggles with English in the state’s public schools, and they don’t have nearly enough teachers to help them all.
So the University of North Texas at Dallas is investing millions to build a bilingual teacher “superhighway” to train more of these badly needed educators through its Emerging Teachers Institute.
The institute is recruiting aggressively through grass-roots campaigns and now offers an accelerated pathway to a degree for some students.  
 That’s gotten the attention of Luis Borja, a Sunset High School freshman who already knows he wants to be a bilingual teacher. At just 15 years old, Luis recently attended a symposium organized by UNT-Dallas where he learned about a young Oak Cliff community activist who taught third grade at his old elementary school.
Luis can see himself doing the same. Growing up, he was frustrated for classmates who struggled to learn because there weren’t enough teachers who could speak to them in their native Spanish.
“Someone has to be the leader to help them get on their feet,” he said. “In elementary, I saw how some couldn’t communicate and had trouble speaking. I felt bad for them. How come there was no one to help them? How come no one could step up and be a leader for them?”

Luis Borja, 15, takes part in a teaching symposium with Tamara Robinson, workplace learning coordinator, at Sunset High School Collegiate Academy.

(David Woo/Staff Photographer)

Luis is now on what educators hope will be a fast track for him to be that leader. Sunset’s new collegiate academy includes a focus on bilingual education that allows students to earn an associate’s degree from Mountain View College by the time they graduate high school. They can then seamlessly transfer to UNT-Dallas to earn a teaching certification.
Texas has 1 million students who struggle with English. Even as the number of kids needing assistance has grown, the pool of qualified bilingual teachers has been shrinking sharply.

Texas is desperate for bilingual teachers

The number of educators who work in bilingual or ESL classes has plummeted over the past decade. The state now has about one such teacher for every 48 students in need.

20,650

SOURCE: Texas Education Agency

Eva-Marie Ayala / DMN

In 2009, Texas had 24,500 bilingual or English as a second language teachers. That’s one for every 30 kids who needed them.
But last school year, the state had 21,144 such educators, or one for every 48 students who struggle with English.
The biggest challenge in finding bilingual teachers often isn’t pay, but getting would-be teachers interested in the profession. That’s where UNT-Dallas wants to start.
John Gasko, dean of UNT-Dallas’ Emerging Teacher Institute, said the goal is to get local students hooked on teaching early and keep them engaged.
“Bilingual education is an art form that requires a lot of skills,” he said. “It’s not just about language but about being relatable and understanding what your students are going through. Today’s middle school and high school kids here know what that means.”
The university’s innovative marketing includes developing an anime-style comic about a heroine who’s a teacher by day and superhero by night. The series — by popular local artist Hector Rodriguez, who is also a bilingual education teacher — aims to show how teachers help solve social issues affecting neighborhoods.
The aggressive recruiting campaign relies on nonprofits, church groups and volunteers to talk to families and teens about opportunities in bilingual education.

Florencia Velasco Fortner, president and CEO of The Concilio, said her nonprofit works with Spanish-speaking families dealing with health and education issues and sees first-hand their struggles to communicate in schools.
Members of the community group have visited shops along Jefferson Boulevard to talk to owners and patrons about encouraging kids to seek teaching as a career and return to their neighborhoods to work one day.
Competition for qualified bilingual teachers is so fierce that many are poached by recruiters from across the country who swoop into Texas to tap the state’s talent pool.
That means some school districts turn to Spain or other countries for bilingual teachers. But they may not be sensitive to the immigration or cultural challenges that the Latinos who grew up in Texas face. Those students who need bilingual education primarily come from families of Mexican or Central American descent.
“When you come up through the system here, you’re not leaving it up to chance that they will understand,” she said. “They’ve seen it or experienced it first hand.”

So far, UNT-Dallas has raised more about $2 million to build up the bilingual education program and make it as affordable as possible. H-E-B grocery store magnate Charles Butt made a donation that will allow some aspiring teachers to get full scholarships when transferring from community colleges.
UNT-Dallas’ efforts are part of amped-up efforts across the area to train more bilingual teachers.
Grand Prairie ISD has partnered with the University of Texas at Arlington to offer high school juniors and seniors dual-credit opportunities that also put them on an accelerated path toward becoming bilingual teachers.
And just this month, Dallas County Community College District officials approved an agreement that will let students take teaching courses from Texas A&M University-Commerce at the El Centro College campus in downtown Dallas. The plan is to eventually offer bilingual education and Spanish education certifications.

One in five students struggle with English

Texas has 1 million kids in public schools who need help learning the language. But there’s not nearly enough teachers to help them.

930,737

SOURCE: Texas Education Agency

Eva-Marie Ayala/ DMN

The amped-up efforts are essential to Texas, said UNT-Dallas’ Gasko. Many of the state’s largest school districts need about 300 new bilingual teachers each year, he said.
And since bilingual teachers tend to have their pick of job opportunities — with many districts offering up to $10,000 in stipends or signing bonuses to recruit them — getting them to teach in their neighborhood schools is a challenge.
That’s why helping students such as Luis get on the path toward certification more quickly — by repeatedly offering training and residencies at their local campuses — is key to keeping them engaged.
“We’re doubling down on these kids by honoring not only their language culture but investing in them so that they’ll be the ones leading their community,” Gasko said.

Also see:  

UNT DALLAS’ EMERGING TEACHER INSTITUTE RECEIVES GRANT TO BUILD BILINGUAL TEACHER SUPERHIGHWAY

As Texas tops 1 million students with limited English skills, a local univerty has a plan