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Californians Together

Championing the Success of English Learners

Leo Martinez

Read Our New LCAP 2022 Report – In Search of Equity for English Learners: A Review of the 2021-2024 Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs)

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A new LCAP report was released on September 22nd in collaboration with authors Magaly, Ph.D., Elvira G. Armas, Ed.D. and Sylvia Jáuregui Hodge, Ed.D., entitled In Search of Equity For English Learners: A Review of the 2021-2024 Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs).  This is the fourth in a series of analysis of LCAPs focused explicitly on English Learners since the inception of the LCFF in 2013. As expressed by Martha Hernandez, Executive Director of Californians Together, “With each new review, rating and analysis, we hoped to see an improved, comprehensive focus on meeting the state policy mandates for English learners.  As implied by the title of this report, the quest for equity for English learners is still elusive.”

The review and analysis sought to answer the following question:  To what degree did districts with high percentages and high numbers of EL address the needs of the diverse English learners in their LCAPs?   

The briefing presents findings and recommendations from the report for the state, county offices of education and local school districts with a call to action to modify the current accountability system to be responsive and transparent to meet the academic and language needs of English learners. 

“These findings reveal that nine years into Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), seven years of LCAP implementation, and two years after the exacerbation of systemic inequities by the devastating effects of the pandemic, the search for equity continues to mirror the search for “a needle in a haystack” stated Dr. Magaly Lavadenz, one of the authors of the report.

To read the full press release visit the link here.

To purchase our new LCAP 2022 report visit the link here. or to view and download the report visit the link here.

If you would like to spread the word about our new LCAP 2022 report visit our link here.

Impact of 2022-23 California State Budget Opportunities for Supporting English Learners

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On June 30, Governor Newsom signed a $308 billion State Budget for 2022-23. The approved spending plan presents yet another historic investment in public education, totaling $128.6 billion for K-12 education. This includes a 13 percent increase to the base funding for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) over the 2021-22 levels.

As a coalition focused on improving educational outcomes for English learners, and immigrant and refugee students, we celebrate these historic investments at the same time that we continue to advocate for ensuring that new programs prioritize the needs of our highest need students and those who have been the most impacted by the pandemic, including English learners. The following reflects the approved budget and the budget trailer bill (AB 180) that is currently being negotiated.

Summary of Legislative Priorities
We appreciate the recognition by the Governor and Legislature that we face a teacher shortage and must continue to invest in the training, recruitment, and retention of teachers. In particular, we will continue to shed light on the need for bilingual teachers. With this goal in mind, we reflect on our legislative priorities, co-sponsored by our partners at the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE):

  • Made it in the Budget: We applaud the inclusion of a $20 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to continue the work of the Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG) program in areas of Special Education and in the implementation of the EL Roadmap. It is our hope that these investments will fund non-profits, county offices of education, or county consortia to continue and expand the collaboration across the state of the current grantees.
  • Missed Opportunities: We are disappointed that the following items were not included:
    • $15 million to bring back the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP) which was highly successful and had a “grow your own” approach to assist teachers in the bilingual education space.
    • $25 million in the California State University budget to increase student enrollment in bilingual authorization programs through the recruitment and retention of full-time faculty through their Colleges of Education. However, we are pleased to see a $5 million one-time investment for the Asian Language Bilingual Teacher Education Program Consortium to increase the number of credentialed teachers with Asian bilingual authorization.

Lastly, as AB 1868 (Rivas) moves through the Legislature, we hope that it will pass with a $1 million ongoing appropriation to disaggregate data in order to strengthen California’s guidance and resources to ensure Long Term English Learners (LTELs) students are correctly identified and provided with targeted interventions that best meet their needs.

Educator Investments that Can Help Support the Bilingual Teacher Pipeline
While not all of our legislative priorities were achieved through the Budget, we still see significant opportunities to expand the bilingual teacher pipeline through the broader educator workforce investments listed below. We will continue to advocate for these investments to prioritize bilingual teachers that can best meet the needs of English learners and students in multilingual programs.

  • Career Pathway Programs ($500 million). This one-time investment over seven years will support the development of secondary school pathway programs focused on technology, health care, education (including early education), and climate-related fields. These programs will bring together school systems, higher education institutions, employers, and other relevant community stakeholders to align needs to preparation. We encourage districts to create bilingual teacher pathways that can recruit bilingual staff and students on the path toward the State Seal of Biliteracy to obtain a teaching credential with bilingual authorization after graduation.
  • Teacher Residency Expansion ($250 million). This investment will increase the pipeline of teachers and school counselors. The Budget also enables school counselors, social workers, and psychologist candidates to be eligible for the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, which provides incentives to individuals to consider earning a credential and serving at a priority school in California for four years, within eight years after completing a preparation program. Currently, there are some but few bilingual teacher residencies and with this new funding, we hope they will expand.
  • Support for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Instruction ($85 million). This one-time Proposition 98 General Fund will create Pre-K-12 educator resources and professional learning opportunities to implement the Next Generation Science Standards, the California Math Framework, the California Computer Science Standards, and the math and science domains of the California Preschool Learning Foundations. It is our goal for these funds to support integrated ELD professional learning and the implementation of strategies to help ELs access the curriculum.
  • Waiving Teacher Examination Fees ($24 million). This one-time investment in 2022-23 and 2023-24 will allow candidates to waive certain teacher examination fees.
  • Integrated Teacher Preparation Program ($20 million). This one-time investment will support a competitive grant program that provides grants to public and private institutions to develop and implement integrated teacher preparation programs allowing teacher candidates to receive their credentials simultaneously while completing their Bachelor of Arts degree. It is hoped that bilingual authorization will be included in this integrated model.

Significant Investments that Can Be Leveraged to Improve EL Outcomes
In addition to the education and LCFF increase, there are several new and continued investments that can greatly expand educational access for English learners. It is our hope that as LEAs expand programs with these investments they prioritize the needs of students that have been the most negatively impacted by the pandemic, including ELs.

  • Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant ($7.9 billion). This grant will support LEAs in establishing learning recovery initiatives through the 2027–28 school year, with investments in instructional learning time, closing learning gaps, student support, instruction, and academic services. As these grants are allocated, we support efforts to increase accountability to ensure that they are improving services for the highest need students such as enhancing both designated and integrated ELD and biliteracy.
  • Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Block Grant ($3.6 billion). This grant will allow LEAs to expand arts and music programs, deliver standards-aligned professional development, acquire quality instructional materials, develop diverse book collections, and cover operational costs and expenses related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. We hope that LEAs will utilize these resources to secure quality instructional materials for ELs and expand both school and classroom libraries with multilingual books and instructional materials.
  • Expanded Learning Opportunities Program ($3 billion). This investment, on top of the $1 billion allocated through the 2021 Budget Act as part of a multi-year investment plan, increases total ongoing program funding to $4 billion. This additional investment will accelerate the implementation timeline, and beginning in 2023-24, LEAs will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all low-income students, English language learners, and youth in foster care. Moreover, LEAs with the highest concentrations of these students will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all elementary students.
  • Community Schools ($1.1 billion). In addition to the $3 billion included in the 2021 Budget Act, this additional investment will assure that eligible LEAs interested in applying on behalf of its high-needs schools have access to the community schools grants. These new monies are necessary given the large demand for community school grants received by the California Department of Education earlier in 2022, with over $700 million in total application requests far exceeding the $400 million grant round.
  • Early Literacy ($250 million). This one-time funding, available over five years, will provide grants to high-needs schools to train and hire literacy coaches and reading specialists. The Budget also includes statutory language that clarifies that Expanded Learning Opportunities Program funds may be used to hire literacy tutors that would assist students as part of the program’s enrichment activities. It is our hope that these funds will support bilingual literacy coaches so that this investment continues to support the expansion of pathways to biliteracy.
  • Dual Enrollment Access ($200 million). This one-time funding, available over five years, will strengthen and expand student access and participation in dual enrollment opportunities, which allows high school students to take classes that count towards high school graduation and earning college credit. This can be an opportunity to expand access for ELs, including high school newcomers and LTELs.
  • Community Engagement Initiative ($100 million). This additional one-time funding will allow the initiative to expand its reach to hundreds of additional LEAs. The goals of this initiative are to build positive relationships between schools and their communities through authentic family engagement, which will align with work to build community schools. Strategies within this initiative should include engaging in the home languages spoken by family members.

Expansion of Early Childhood Education
We also continue to applaud the continued investments in the State Preschool Program and Transitional Kindergarten. We see tremendous opportunity for these investments to provide greater access to culturally and linguistically relevant instruction for the 60 percent of children birth to five, who come from a household where another language other than English is spoken.

  • Expansion of State Preschool Programs ($485 million). This will support programs in serving students with disabilities, dual language learners, and childhood mental health. This also includes new requirements for State Preschool providers to incrementally ramp up to serving at least 10 percent of students with disabilities by July 1, 2024, and provide additional supportive services for dual language learners. This additional funding also increases access to more families by raising eligibility from 85 percent of state median income to 100 percent of state median income.
  • Transitional Kindergarten ($614 million). This ongoing Prop 98 funding will begin in the 2022-23 school year, supporting the first year of expanded eligibility for transitional kindergarten, shifting from all children turning five years old between September 2 and December 2 to all children turning five years old between September 2 and February 2. Additionally, the Budget provides $383 million Proposition 98 General Fund to add one additional certificated or classified staff person to every transitional kindergarten class, reducing student-to-adult ratios to more closely align with the State Preschool Program. The Budget also increases the pipeline of qualified transitional kindergarten teachers by allowing the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to issue a one-year emergency specialist teaching permit in early childhood education that authorizes the permit holder to teach transitional kindergarten provided that they hold a bachelor’s degree or higher and meet other requirements. This is an opportunity to initiate multilingual programs beginning in TK.

We will continue to work with the administration and Legislature to advocate for English learners and the expansion of pathways to biliteracy within our budget priorities. It is our goal to ensure that the inclusion and success of the State’s English learners be inserted in several program initiatives and be prioritized.

For more information about the 2022-23 California Budget and the Budget Trailer Bill click here.

To download the Impact of 2022-23 California State Budget Opportunities for Supporting English Learners as a pdf click here.

Community Schools Grants Announced: An Opportunity to Align with the EL Roadmap

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Community Schools present an opportunity to rethink partnerships and the role that schools have in meeting the needs of students and families. They are defined by the Partnership for the Future of Learning as a public school with “strong and intentional community partnerships ensuring pupil learning and whole child and family development.” This model can be a powerful strategy to improve English learner education, empower multilingual families, bring resources to support immigrant and refugee students, and strengthen connections between elementary and early childhood education. It is for these reasons that Californians Together was excited when California’s 2021-22 Budget included a $3 billion investment in community schools. 

On May 18, the State Board of Education (SBE) approved the first round of Planning Grants and Implementation Grants, impacting 163 school districts and county offices of education and 105 charter schools. 

  • The Planning Grants (totaling $38.2 million) will provide up to $200,000 for up to two years to 106 schools districts and county offices of education and 86 charters schools with no existing community schools—the school districts and county offices of education grantees serve a total of 202,152 English learners across 35 counties.
  • The Implementation Grants (totaling $611 million) will provide $150,000-$500,000 over five years to 57 schools districts and county offices of education and 19 charters schools for new, expanded, or continuing community schools—the school districts and county offices of education grantees serve a total of 285,834 English learners across 25 counties.

Across both sets of school district grantees, over one in five of all students is an English learner. Moreover, 14 of the 20 districts with the largest number of English learners are grantees. 

The SBE also approved a $12 million three-year contract for the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) to serve as a lead technical assistance center. The ACOE will be a support hub for the program, co-led with the UCLA Center for Community Schooling, and in partnership with Californians for Justice and the National Education Association.

It is important to note that additional planning and implementation grants are expected to be allocated in the 2022–23 school year. Moreover, the high demand for these grants prompted the Governor to include an additional $1.5 billion in the 2022-23 Budget May revise.

Current and future grantees will have an opportunity to build or expand Community Schools with an intentional focus on high quality programs and instruction for English learners and the English Learner Roadmap (EL Roadmap) as a central component. To support this alignment, Californians Together recently released Alignment of Community Schools with the English Learner Roadmap Policy, adapted from Section 4: Engaging the Whole Village (pages 44-57) of the California English Learner Roadmap Implementation Guide and Toolkit for Administrators Volume 5: Aligning and Articulating Practices Across the System. In the coming months, Californians Together will also be releasing a series of four briefs focused on how Community Schools can improve English Learner education, empower multilingual families, support immigrant and refugee students, and strengthen connections between elementary and early childhood education to support dual language learners.

Celebrating Ten Years of California’s State of Biliteracy!

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As the 2021-22 school year draws to a close, many students will have graduated from high school with the attainment of the California State Seal of Biliteracy, signifying their proficiency in English and a second language. This will mark the ten-year anniversary since the State Seal of Biliteracy was fully implemented in 2012. California’s adoption of the State Seal of Biliteracy was a remarkable triumph considering the previous 14 years of predominantly English-only instruction. That triumph was made possible by changing public and political attitudes toward multilingual education and would be the start of significant policy change over the next decade, including the passage of Proposition 58 in 2016 and the adoption of the English Learner Roadmap policy in 2017. Additionally, in May 2018, the California Department of Education launched Global California 2030, calling for more than tripling the number of students earning the Seal of Biliteracy, to 150,000 graduates by 2030.

Mastering fluency in one of the 41 different languages represented, including American Sign Language, is a tremendous accomplishment for any student. Speaking two or more languages has proven cognitive, social, and economic benefits. Bilingual students do better academically in English and their home language, have better college-going and completion rates, are preferred by employers, and for language heritage students maintain strong connections to their family members, language, and culture. These students are our future bilingual teachers, doctors, government employees, and artists. 

The reverberations of this important policy have resulted in positive outcomes, in California, and across the country. Over the past decade, 49 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a Seal of Biliteracy. (Only South Dakota remains as the last holdout although it is in the early stages of adoption.) Within California (according to 2020-21 school year data), 351 districts with high school students now offer the State Seal of Biliteracy, with 69 districts with high schools yet to offer this distinction. Moreover, 2020-21 had nearly 73,000 students achieving the State Seal of Biliteracy, the most of any previous year. Given the trend over the past decade, we can expect these numbers to keep increasing when they are released for the 2021-22 school year and beyond. 



As we celebrate this important milestone, we must continue to expand access to multilingual programs for all students. The Global California 2030 goal of tripling the number of students earning the Seal of Biliteracy, to 150,000 graduates by 2030, provides a call to action and a vision of a multilingual state with benefits to students and the state as a whole. 

Below are recommendations to continue to support expanding access to the Seal of Biliteracy: 

1. Expand Access

  • Support 100% of California’s school districts to adopt the State Seal of Biliteracy.
  • Encourage all school districts to implement the new Biliteracy Pathway Recognitions program.
  • Expand resources for districts, schools, and classrooms to fully implement the English Learner Roadmap including multilingual programs leading to eligibility for the Seal of Biliteracy.

2. Track Progress

  • Keep the focus on Global California 2030’s goals by widely reporting on the status of goal attainment annually. 
  • Track and report the demographics of students who receive the Seal of Biliteracy.

3. Engage Students and Families

  • Publish and distribute informational materials for students in the lower grades to motivate them to develop proficiency in English and another language leading to state recognition with the State Seal of Biliteracy.
  • Develop a multilingual communications campaign to reach parents of English learners to learn about the Seal of Biliteracy and the benefits of enrolling their children in multilingual programs to qualify for this recognition.