DC Immersion was among many respected education advocates to testify during the DC Council’s Committee on Education hearing on the 2017-2022 DC Public Schools Strategic Plan. Together with other public witnesses, DC Immersion spoke out in support of DCPS strategic goals which include multilingual education and increasing teacher pipelines for bilingual teachers.
Councilmember Trayon White was interested in which language should be prioritized, Councilmember Robert White stated “I couldn’t agree with you more [on the importance of dual language]… There is a large population of DC residents who agree with you and want to see more dual language education in the District” and “No parent should have to travel far for their child to be in a District dual language program.” Councilmember David Grosso stated “I also think there is great value in [bilingual education], I do, I honestly believe it is the right thing to do.”
These are only three of the many voices on the DC Council in support of dual language programs. We are proud to have contributed to this being the case. In the words of Councilmember Grosso “your entire coalition […] has made a huge difference to move us forward in DC”. If you agree, and believe there is still lots more work to do, please support DC Immersion!
Here is our testimony in which we encourage DCPS to present a detailed plan for expansion, and allocate an adequate portion of its budget to fund the planning and implementation of multilingual education. We also enumerated all the ways that expanding dual language education will help DCPS reach all of its new strategic goals. Other witnesses spoke to the need to leverage community support for dual language where it exists, the desirability of legislating on a right to bilingual education in the District, particularly from a Latino perspective, and how DCPS has integrated community engagement feedback regarding dual language in its strategic plan.