Members of the General Assembly are about to consider dozens of bills aimed at improving public education. Some of that legislation deals with students who speak English as a second language.
A new report from the Legal Aid Justice Center says Virginia is failing students who are English language learners.
"Our report links a lack of language access to disparate academic outcomes and more discipline," says Hank Bostwick, a senior attorney with the youth justice program at the Legal Aid Justice Center. He says one of the problems with standardized testing in Virginia is that it fails to meet students where they are.
"Virginia is testing English learners in a language they are still learning, not on what they actually know. So, when students are scoring 30 to 50 points lower across SOL subjects, that's not a student failure, it's a testing design failure."
The report makes several recommendations for the upcoming session of the General Assembly: making sure translations are available, collecting data to ensure accountability, requiring materials to be available in languages other than English, and, of course, there's funding.
"We would need to provide an additional $133.2 million in fiscal year 2026 to meet that standard, which would be approximately $4,737 in additional funding per English learner student," Bostwick says.
Members of the General Assembly will gavel into session on January 14th.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
