A weekend interview with ...

... Linda Evans, University of South Florida assistant professor of foreign language education and ESOL. Evans, past president of Sunshine State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, quietly led a grassroots effort that prompted Gov. Charlie Crist to veto SB 2512, which would have reduced ESOL training for reading specialists from 300 hours to 60. She spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about why, in a state heavy with speakers of other languages, such a bill would have hurt education.

JS: The bill came out of what?

LE: It came out of Clay County and it came out of the frustration of the reading specialists there, who are required to take course work to gain their reading endorsement and to take course work to gain the ESOL endorsement.

JS: And that was too much for them?

LE: Yeah, I think so. ... One of the things we've run into in the past is the way the districts set things up vary from district to district in terms of the training requirements. My understanding was that with the reading money that came into the state ... that opened opportunities for districts to hire reading coaches. What they did was they of course gave the opportunities to teachers already teaching in the districts. And they recruited from out of state. But they would be teaching out of field until they did the course work for their endorsement.

JS: Does everyone need to have an ESOL endorsement?

LE: If they have English language learners that they're working with. ... The (1990) consent decree required that all teachers involved in language arts instruction for English language learners need to be credentialed. And all teachers to teach English language learners need to have some level of credential. And it was determined by the Department of Ed that the reading specialists fell into that category. ... Because teaching reading in a student's second language is not the same as teaching it in their native language.

JS: They went to a 300-hour requirement. That has been in place for as long as I can recall, because I have heard teachers complain about it for as long as I can recall.

LE: What happened with the reading teachers in this particular issue is that the reading endorsement came on top of whatever else the teachers had to do. So looking for relief ... somebody did a crosswalk of competencies between the reading endorsement and the ESOL endorsement ... and their contention was that there was only one course worth, or about 60 hours, of training that did not overlap. And so based on that the reading specialists should be able to take just one course ... and gain the ESOL endorsement.

JS: So what did this law seek to do?

LE: Exactly that.

JS: This law, you opposed it. Why?

LE: Reading itself is a fundamental pathway to achievement for students. And it is particularly important if you have a student coming into a system where they're not going to have access to a native-language program. So all of their literacy achievement has to occur in a language they're not familiar with. A reading coach is put in a school to enhance a student's ability in reading. So what you need is a coach who understands how to teach students who are coming in with that situation. ...

JS: So who convinced the governor to not approve this bill?

LE: Well, when I first learned of the bill ... when I went to the Sunshine State TESOL conference back in early May. There was a professor at Florida International University, Eric Dwyer, and then there's a retired faculty person who really spearheaded this, Rosa Castro Feinberg. ... Eric was at the conference and he said, 'Have you heard about this bill?' I said I hadn't heard anything about it. It had already gone through the Senate and apparently went through late in the session ... and was a done deal, apparently. Eric said, 'I don't have much hope we can do anything, but we've got to give it a shot.' I said, 'Absolutely.' So we're at the conference, we made people at the conference aware of it. Then things started taking off. ...

It took a lot longer to get to the governor's desk than we had anticipated. We thought he was going to receive it the next week. But as it took week after week after week to get there, it gave us time. ... A bunch of us contacted everybody we knew involved in organizations. There were 25 letters, I believe, from state and national organizations. ... Some of them were the plaintiff organizations in the consent decree litigation. ... There was a phone campaign. .. People sent e-mails. ... And we did a lot of blogging all over the state. ... There were also people who talked to (Crist) when he was out at events.

JS: It's surprising that it took so much for something that most people were probably unaware was happening at all.

LE: Rosie did say we ended up with between 100 and 150 calls. ... We probably over-killed because we just didn't know and we were just very concerned that if this went into effect it would really erode what is available to students in schools in terms of highly qualified teachers.

JS: Have you talked to the bill sponsor at all and encouraged him or her not to do it again?

LE: I have not, and not that I am aware of. Right now we are in the process of thanking everybody. There was some discussion about what do you do now. And we will carry forward with that discussion. The thought is that this will come up again in some fashion.

Comments

[Harris Zipaye]

I hold an MS in Reading K-12, a Reading Specialist Certificate from the State of Pennsylvania and have 25 years of teaching experience.

The 300 hours of ESOL training I endured was a redundant waste of my time. Having to see basic reading techniques taught to me by people less qualified and less knowledgable was the epitome of bureaucratic wastefulness.

My graduate training prepared me for teaching students who were "language impaired".

I could not get out of my program without demonstrating the ability to create exercises that addressed damn near every eventuality.

The State of Florida is openly admitting that their reading specialist programs are inferior and are subsequently turning out unqualified professionals who need this ESOL training.

NO?, then the Governor should immediately LIMIT the requirement to 15 hours and call that a targeted review.

Notice all the supporting organizations have a vested interest in the status quo.

[Harris Zipaye]

I hold an MS in Reading K-12, a Reading Specialist Certificate from the State of Pennsylvania and have 25 years of teaching experience.

The 300 hours of ESOL training I endured was a redundant waste of my time. Having to see basic reading techniques taught to me by people less qualified and less knowledgable was the epitome of bureaucratic wastefulness.

My graduate training prepared me for teaching students who were "language impaired".

I could not get out of my program without demonstrating the ability to create exercises that addressed damn near every eventuality.

The State of Florida is openly admitting that their reading specialist programs are inferior and are subsequently turning out unqualified professionals who need this ESOL training.

NO?, then the Governor should immediately LIMIT the requirement to 15 hours and call that a targeted review.

Notice all the supporting organizations have a vested interest in the status quo.

[Frederick Jenks]

Governor Crist's veto of SB 2512 was based, in my opinion, on his goal of moving Florida public education to a higher standard of performance, a goal he has stated frequently.
The Governor is certainly aware of the discouragingly low results on statewide tests taken by students whose native language isn't English, students who are learning English as a second language (ESOL) in public schools.
In short, why reduce teacher preparation, especially that of English language arts and reading teachers, in the face of poor achievement by ESOL students and a leadership goal of improving Florida schools?
The veto permits further discussion and negotiation of an issue that, seemingly, sailed through the Legislature on the winds of questionable facts and political agendas, not due to a focus on how to improve teacher preparation and/or how to reach ESOL students more effectively.
Learning another language well, including learning to read it well, is neither easy or short-term. Reading well in a second language requires many new skills and insights not related to learning to read your mother tongue. Teachers must be prepared to insightfully plan reading instruction for ESOL students so that they can comprehend instruction in mathematics, social sciences and natural sciences via English.
Thus, it's not a question merely of "hours of in-service instruction", as SB bill 2512 proposed; it's a question of competencies, a question of what teachers need to know and know how to do. If that takes the current 300 hours of study, fine! If it takes 200 hours, fine. The veto may be the Governor's way of encouraging knowledgeable parties to work cooperatively in planning successful teacher preparation for those who teach Florida's young English language learners.

[Rochelle Cisneros]

Thanks go to Governor Crist for his veto of the deeply flawed SB2512 and his expression of concern for the academic achievement for all of Florida's students. There are over 250,000 English Language Learners in Florida's schools who must master the English language and to do so, must be taught by highly qualified teachers.

Thanks go to the following professional and community organizations who requested the Governor's veto on behalf of children:
National
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL, Inc.)
National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE)
Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL)
National Council for Languages and International Studies (NCLIS)
Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
Institute for Language and Education Policy
ASPIRA Association
National Council of La Raza ((NCLR)
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Cuban American National Council (CNC)

State
Sunshine State TESOL of Florida (SST)
Bilingual Association of Florida (BAF)
Florida Association of Bilingual and ESOL Supervisors (FABES)
Florida League of United Latin American Citizens (Florida LULAC)
Florida Chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Coalition of Florida Farmworker Organizations (COFFO)

County
Superintendent Rudy Crew, M-DCPS
Miami-Dade School Board Member Ana Rivas Logan (R)
Former Miami-Dade School Board Member, Frank Cobo (D)
Dave Lawrence, Concerned Citizen
Spanish American League Against Discrimination (SALAD)
Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center
Centro Campesino
Hispanic Coalition
American Hispanic Educators Association of Dade (AHEAD)

Rochelle Cisneros
Co-moderator Florida Sunshine State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (FLSST) Advcoacy E-Group