Back from reporting on ELLs in New York City, I’ve returned to my cubicle (and computer) to find GothamSchools noting that only three New York state legislators showed up at a state assembly roundtable about the educational needs of English-language learners. The blog item features the declining graduation rates for ELLs in New York state and New York City, which I’ve also talked about here at Learning the Language.
Also, Aubrey Krekeler, over at the Rural Blog, points out that presidential candidates Senators Barack Obama and John McCain aren’t talking about issues affecting rural schools, including the presence of ELLs and the shortage of teachers trained to serve them in those schools. The blog entry picks up from a post over at Daily Yonder.
So wherever ELLs live, some feel leaders outside of education circles aren’t spending enough time getting informed about the issues that affect these students, nor talking about how to improve the schooling infrastructure for them.