In the second major language education bill reintroduction this week, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives the JNCL-NCLIS-endorsed Biliteracy Education Seal and Teaching (BEST) Act (H.R. 1660). This critical bill, which focuses on supporting the implementation and scaling of Seal of Biliteracy programs and ensuring that cost is not a barrier to students participating in them, will be a priority request of language education advocates participating in next week’s JNCL-NCLIS Language Advocacy Days.
“We cannot thank Representative Brownley enough for continuing to champion federal support for growing Seal of Biliteracy programs, an issue that she has led on since her days in the California legislature,” said JNCL-NCLIS Executive Director Amanda Seewald. “Now more than ever before, America’s economy needs workers able to speak multiple languages and Seal of Biliteracy programs are an excellent way to meet those needs. In the 2022-23 school year alone, over 158,000 students across the nation received Seals of Biliteracy, demonstrating proficiency in 143 different languages.”
Seal of Biliteracy programs provide high school students with recognition, either through actual seals on their diplomas or notations on their high school transcripts, for attaining proficiency in a language other than English. This recognition enables colleges and universities, as well as employers, to distinguish the valuable expertise of bilingual students in both academia and the workplace.
Federal funding is needed to support implementation of Seal of Biliteracy programs at the state and district levels because there are costs associated with Seal programs and most schools still do not offer Seals of Biliteracy to their students. The BEST Act would provide funding to states to establish, improve and implement Seal of Biliteracy programs. Additionally, it would require subgrants from states to school districts to enable school districts to subsidize the costs of Seal of Biliteracy baseline and final assessments for low income students.
Read the full bill text here.
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