Lesson learned: Lawmaker takes second crack at help for English learners in Nevada schools
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A 2019 law put attention on efforts to help students overcome language barriers, but eventually it created more paperwork than it did results. It was a hard lesson for the lawmaker who sponsored it.
'I don't think it's too often that you have a legislator coming back and saying, 'Hey, I need to repeal my own bill from 2019,' ' Democratic Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett said Tuesday in Carson City. 'I think we found a way to make it better.'
As Torres-Fossett, a high school teacher, presented Assembly Bill 335 (AB335), she was focused on the students the legislation is meant to help. And she was surrounded by like-minded educators who see value in her new proposal.
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They talked about critical needs among students who come to Nevada speaking Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese or some other language. Torres-Fossett said as much as 20% of Nevada's K-12 student enrollment has a primary language that isn't English. Only 11% of those students are proficient in English, and 11% are proficient in math.
That's a formidable barrier to learning to read and write, as well as develop skills for listening and speaking, according to Ezra Goins, who has experience as an EL coordinator in Las Vegas. He currently works at Mater Academy East Las Vegas.
'When a newcomer is learning English as a second language — as a new language — they need support to access what they're supposed to be learning in English with native language support,' he said.
The bill means training requirements for teachers and follow-through for administrators. But AB335 redirects the effort from paperwork to a more holistic approach to changing the course of education for English learners (ELs).
'EL students are not an English teacher problem,' Torres-Fossett said. 'These are Nevada students that deserve access to that high-quality education.'
Torres-Fossett and fellow Democratic Assem. Selena La Rue Hatch, also a teacher, made the point that it's up to all teachers to help those students, not just the ones who teach grammar and spelling.
AB335 would require Clark and Washoe County school principals to prepare plans to improve EL students' achievements. The goal: close the gap between ELs and other students in all areas from proficiencies in individual subjects clear through to graduation rates.
Currently, 75% of English learners graduate compared to 82% for other students.
The bill creates a 'Zero Year' for EL students, giving them an extra year to complete high school if they need it. 'Newcomers often need time to acclimate to their new home,' according to a one-page bill summary from Torres-Fossett. 'Recognizing that these students are learning a new culture, language, and school system this bill allows newcomers additional time to graduate high school.'
The bill would create the English Learner Advisory Council to study policies to support English language acquisition, development and literacy.
Elena Fabunan, who retired in 2023 as principal of Global Community High School, applauded the legislation because it doesn't lower the bar. Instead, it strengthens the system that supports EL students, she said.
She recalled her own experience coming to the United States.
'Back then, I was a quiet child trying to make sense of a new country, a new language, and a school system that wasn't set up for students like me. That experience didn't break me. It shaped me,' Fabunan said. 'It led me to become a bilingual teacher when language support often meant handing a student a worksheet and walking away.'
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