BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

WHEREAS, it has been established that bilingual education--the solid training of students in the basic skills at the same time as the child is making an effective transition to English language skills--is clearly one of the means of providing effective education for children whose primary language is not English; and

WHEREAS, the success of bilingual education depends upon the qualifications and training of teachers and staff in both the second language and the basic skills; and

WHEREAS, the AFT has always played a leadership role in the development of meaningful educational programs; and

WHEREAS, adequate funding for successful bilingual programs has not been forthcoming to date:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers will, through its lobbying efforts, actively support demands for adequate funding needed to establish bilingual education programs which will assure that:

• Valid bilingual education is made available to all students who need it during the time when they cannot yet function effectively in English; and

• Both in-service and pre-service training programs will be available to qualify teachers and staff for an ancillary certificate in a second language; and

• Such training will be available to all teachers and staff members, whether new or already in the system; and

• All teachers and staff to be trained are selected on the basis of a single standard of subject matter competency.