Two Bilingual Teachers for Every MPS High School

 

With an influx of immigrant students to Milwaukee Public Schools, it is more imperative than ever that each high school in MPS has at least two bilingual education teachers to support our multilingual learners. Milwaukee Public Schools currently has 9,900 students that are classified as English Learners but has only 27 schools offering a bilingual education program (https://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/en/Schools/Bilingual-Education-in-MPS.htm). Students emigrating to the United States that end up in Milwaukee may choose to go to their neighborhood MPS school, which means that many multilingual learners will end up in a school that does not offer a bilingual education program.

            As a current MPS high school teacher, I have two students in my English 9 classes that are classified as English learners. My school does not have a bilingual education program and only has one ESL teacher that visits a few times per month because she has students in other schools that she also services. Unfortunately, this makes it nearly impossible for the multilingual learners in my school to make adequate progress in their language development and educational achievement. A dual language program would be most beneficial for these students, as Indiana has seen great improvement in ELA scores among students in dual language programs (Baker and Wright 2021); however, the implementation of a dual language program would take time and resources that may be too scarce to be of any use to students this school year. A more reasonable approach might be to assign two bilingual education teachers to each high school.

            Studies show that students receiving effective bilingual education and support are more likely to outperform multilingual students enrolled in English-only schools and programs (Thomas and Sanchez, 2023; Freire and Delavan 2021). While it’s an obvious solution to the inequitable practices put in place by discriminatory practices for decades, MPS has yet to initiate any attempt at a solution. Unfortunately, due to MPS’ current financial situation, dual language programs are probably out of the question for the foreseeable future; however, if MPS wants to create an equitable environment where all students are able to succeed, they must begin by assigning two bilingual education teachers to each MPS high school.

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