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Nearly 2.6 million California K-12 public school students (41.8%) bring a linguistic asset with them to school every day: living in homes where a language other than English is spoken. A majority of these students (1.4 million) demonstrate English proficiency during their school years. But students’ home language skills are often neglected at school and that means many do not receive the state biliteracy designation on their high school diplomas that could benefit students as they apply for higher education and employment opportunities. California can change this trend of overlooking the language assets of its K-12 students by increasing its supply of adequately trained bilingual education teachers who can help students become biliterate. Increasing the number of bilingual education teachers in California’s classrooms would help improve students’ futures and play an important role in meeting the demand for bilingual workers and boosting the state’s competitiveness in an increasingly globalized economy.

While California has taken some important steps in recent years to help bilingual students achieve biliteracy, the state faces significant challenges in meeting the need for adequately trained bilingual education teachers who can support these students. Voters ended restrictions to bilingual programs by approving Proposition 58 in November 2016. The following year the State Board of Education adopted the California English Learner Roadmap and the Legislature established the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program. In that time, the demand for bilingual education teachers has grown — as it has every year since 2012-13 when school districts estimated hiring close to 220 bilingual education teachers. By 2017-18, that number had increased by nearly 250%, to an estimate of roughly 760.

The shortage of adequately trained bilingual education teachers adds to the challenge of increasing demand.¹ One way to assess that shortage is to look at the number of teachers who have been authorized to teach bilingually in recent years, which pales in comparison to the number of K-12 students who live in homes where languages other than English are spoken. Specifically, a large imbalance exists between 1) the number of students who live in homes where one of the top 10 languages is spoken and 2) teachers who earned an authorization to teach in those languages from 2008-09 to 2017-18 (See Table). For example, while Spanish-speaking teachers earned the largest share of bilingual authorizations during this period, the number of students who lived in Spanish-speaking homes in 2017-18 was substantially higher, resulting in a ratio of more than 250-to-1. The ratio for most other languages was even more imbalanced: more than 2,000-to-1 for students from Vietnamese-speaking homes, nearly 3,200-to-1 for Filipino-speaking homes, and more than 6,800-to-1 for Arabic-speaking homes.

The bilingual education teacher shortage is a significant obstacle preventing California students from achieving biliteracy. To address this shortage, policymakers can take additional steps to encourage people to become bilingual education teachers, support and retain them, and diversify the languages that those educators are prepared to teach. For example, the Legislature should extend and increase the modest $5 million provided for the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program, funding that will run out in 2020. Policymakers should also create systems to track and report students who receive the State Seal of Biliteracy and use this information to recruit, and diversify the languages of, bilingual education teachers, incentivize and prioritize career and technical education funding that creates pathways for bilingual educators, and increase the number of universities offering programs that authorize bilingual education teachers.

The language assets of California’s K-12 students present key opportunities. Increasing the supply of adequately trained bilingual education teachers is necessary to leverage those opportunities so more students can achieve biliteracy and the state can meet the demands of an increasingly globalized economy.

Support for the California Budget & Policy Center’s research and analysis of K-12 education issues is provided by the Sobrato Family Foundation and the Stuart Foundation.

Every day, millions of California students come to school with an invaluable asset: living in homes where a language other than English is spoken. However, this asset is often squandered as many of these students do not become literate in their home language. Achieving biliteracy benefits the students who are proficient in more than one language, the schools and colleges they attend, and the communities where these bilingual Californians live and eventually work. A large body of research, including studies cited in last year’s Getting Down to Facts II report, shows that “bilingual education, on average, benefits English Learner (EL) students, resulting in improved outcomes in English proficiency, target language proficiency, reclassification, academic performance, and social outcomes.” The report also cited research that points to the “important economic, cognitive, and cross-cultural benefits” of bilingualism, including the economic demand for bilingual workers. California has an opportunity to meet this demand given its large number of students who speak a language other than English at home. The question is whether the state can leverage that opportunity to improve the lives of these students, and also the state’s competitiveness in an increasingly globalized economy.

California’s K-12 schools educate a large number of students who live in a home where a language other than English is spoken. The state labels these students by three categories early in their education:

1. English learner ⁠— students who have yet to demonstrate English proficiency;
2. Reclassified fluent English proficient ⁠— students who previously were English learners and have been reclassified; and
3. Initial fluent English proficient ⁠— students who demonstrate English proficiency when they enter school.

Grouped together, this universe of students is nearly 2.6 million in California’s public schools (41.8% of K-12 public school enrollment). By the state’s categories it’s: 1.2 million students who are classified as English learners (19.3%), 1.1 million students reclassified fluent English proficient (18.3%), and 261,000 students classified as initial fluent English proficient. (4.2%).

Few question the need for all California students to become literate in English and the 1.1 million English learners who have been reclassified as fluent English proficient signal progress toward that goal. However, labeling these students based on their English proficiency indicates their home language may be seen as a challenge to overcome rather than an asset. This may help explain why many of the state’s students who live in a home where a language other than English is spoken often are not provided the education required to achieve literacy in their family language. While students who speak more than one language are bilingual, they are not biliterate if they can’t read and write in more than one language. Until California prioritizes quality bilingual education for these students, the state will continue to miss opportunities to help Californians achieve biliteracy and leverage their language assets in our schools and workplaces.

California has taken some important steps in recent years to help bilingual students achieve biliteracy. Voters approved Proposition 58 in November 2016, which ended restrictions to bilingual programs that had been in place for nearly two decades and hindered students’ ability to become biliterate. The following year, the State Board of Education adopted the California English Learner Roadmap that intends to strengthen policies, programs, and practices for students classified as English learners. One key principle of the Roadmap includes building the capacity of educators to leverage the strengths and meet the needs of these students. Paradoxically, a key obstacle to leveraging the language assets of California’s students is a shortage of bilingual educators. A 2017 survey  conducted by Californians Together indicated a majority of K-12 districts (58%) planned to expand their bilingual programs. However, a large share of these districts (86%) said that their supply of bilingual teachers was insufficient to meet the staffing needs of those planned expansions.

Policymakers should look to students who speak languages other than English as an opportunity to help more Californians become biliterate, prepare for the workforce, and improve the state’s competitiveness in an increasingly globalized economy. With quality educational programs and adequate support, students who speak languages other than English can achieve biliteracy and improve knowledge and expertise in our workplaces and communities.

Support for the California Budget & Policy Center’s research and analysis of K-12 education issues is provided by the Sobrato Family Foundation and the Stuart Foundation.