Hispanic children comprise a growing segment of the U.S. student population, but they often attend schools which have historically been starved of the funds necessary to help students succeed in college and beyond. Funding of programs with the potential to improve the academic outcomes of Latinos is critical to reducing the Latino dropout rate, increasing parental involvement, and helping English language learner (ELL) students master English and keep up with their academic coursework. NCLR supports full funding of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Key NCLB Programs

Language Acquisition State Grants (Formerly Bilingual Education Act)
Nearly half of Latino students have limited proficiency in English. The Language Acquisition State Grants program is designed to ensure that ELL students acquire English and are able to meet the same academic achievement standards as other children. This funding helps states, local school districts, and institutions of higher education build their capacity to teach students with limited English proficiency effectively by assisting schools to upgrade their instructional curricula and provide training opportunities for teachers. Unfortunately, despite continued growth in the number of ELL students in our nation’s schools, Title III funding has declined in recent years. NCLR recommends a funding level of $740 million for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 and $746 million for FY 2008.

Parental Information and Resource Centers and Local Family Information Centers
Parents play a crucial role in making our schools work. Yet, many parents do not have the information they need to take a more active role in improving the schools their children attend. The Parental Assistance and Local Family Information Centers (LFICs) provide an essential avenue to ensuring that parents have the information and support they need to make schools work better. LFICs would help parents gain a better understanding of how the school system works, including how standards and assessments can be used to improve student achievement. These centers would also provide information about important educational options, including English language learner programs and charter schools. Unfortunately, only $40 million in funding is currently dedicated to parental assistance programs, and no funds have been made available to establish community-based LFICs. NCLR recommends a funding level of $100 million a year, including $25 million for LFICs, for FY 2007 and FY 2008. Such funding would make it possible to establish LFICs in every state.  See NCLR's backgrounder on LFICs.

Even Start
Even Start, the only federal reading program to involve both parents and children, has proven to be particularly effective for ELL students and their parents. In Texas, for example, more than half of the ELL parents enrolled in Even Start family literacy programs made significant educational gains, as measured by the National Reporting System for Adult Education. In California, Even Start third-graders (the vast majority of whom are ELLs) outperformed all third-graders as a group on the California Achievement Test, Reading (CAT-R). In previous budgets, the Administration recommended eliminating Even Start. This position appears to be based on a flawed evaluation of Even Start which understates the program’s effectiveness, particularly for Latino and ELL parents and children. NCLR recommends increasing Even Start funding by $148 million. This increase would restore Even Start to its FY 2005 funding level, after adjusting for inflation.  See NCLR's backgrounder on Even Start.

FY 2007 and 2008 Funding

The Senate and House Committees on Appropriations passed their respective versions of the FY 2007 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill in 2006, which includes funding for all federal education programs. However, both bills await action by the full Senate and House. The chart below documents the current funding status for Language Acquisition State Grants, PIRCs/LFICs, Even Start, as well as the Migrant Education Program and School Dropout Prevent Program, which are also authorized under NCLB.  The President is expected to release his budget for FY 2008 in February.  See NCLR's Letter to President Bush NCLR's FY 2008 Budget Priorities.

Related Resources

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