Statement by Dr. John C. Molina Before the Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education, Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives.

Overview & Synopsis

The eight year old Bilingual Education Act, funded by Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, is discussed in this report. Federal funds have been allocated to more than 500 local education agencies seeking to improve educational opportunities for students in 68 language groups, and to expand educational access for more than 300,000 children of non or limited English speaking ability. In postsecondary education programs, 100 institutions of higher education will offer teacher training and retraining programs to an estimated 25,000 classroom teachers and teacher aides. At the graduate level, the fellowship program will offer degree programs in 42 institutions of higher education reaching more than 500 degree candidates. To develop a more effective coordinating relationship between the Federal Government and State education agencies, 43 State agencies will receive assistance contract money to carry out bilingual education coordinating services within the State. As a means of insuring a growing and adequate supply of relevant and quality instructional materials, 15 Materials Development Centers and 3 Assessment/Dissemination Centers have been funded to support and meet the needs of rapidly increasing bilingual education programs. A National Clearinghouse on Bilingual Education is scheduled for installation and operation during fiscal year 1978. Four model demonstration bilingual programs will be placed in 16 local education sites for testing in 1978. This will provide an opportunity for the effectiveness of these model demonstration projects to be determined. (Author/AM)