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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, English Learners (ELs) constituted nearly 10% of
3all students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 statewide in
4Fiscal Year 2013; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The number of ELs has grown by 33% since 2005,
6with an average annual growth of 4.7%; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Three hundred and ten school districts were
8receiving State funding to support bilingual education
9services for more than 200,000 students in Fiscal Year 2012;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, The number of school districts that enrolled at
12least one English Learner student in their classroom has grown
13more than 50% from 2007 to 2014; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The number of counties with school districts
15serving at least one English Learner student in their classroom
16has increased from 63 in 2005 to 85 in 2012, a 21% increase;
17and
 
18    WHEREAS, The funding for English Learner education has been
19reduced by 6.9% from 2010 to 2013, but the English Learner
20population has grown by 7% in the same period of time; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The decline in State resources has limited school
2districts' ability to provide meaningful professional
3development opportunities for their teachers, administrators,
4and principals; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The reduction in funding has restricted the
6ability of school districts to offer supplemental language
7instruction before or after school; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The achievement gap between the English Learner
9student population and their peers is evident in reading and
10mathematics on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT)
11from third to eighth grade; and
 
12    WHEREAS, This State recently raised the proficiency level
13that ELs must attain in order to transition to a general
14education curriculum; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Improving teaching and learning of English
16Learner students is fundamental to our goal of closing
17achievement gaps; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Data from the State Board of Education shows that
19children who have attained English proficiency after
20benefitting from State-funded bilingual education services go

 

 

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1on to outperform non-English Learner students in reading and
2mathematics on the ISAT in grades 6 through 8; therefore, be it
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
4ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the General
5Assembly to fully fund the State Board of Education's request
6for bilingual education at $75,652,000 to support bilingual
7students in this State.