AN ACT Relating to dual language in early learning and K-12 education; adding a new section to chapter 28A.630 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.180 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; creating new sections; and providing expiration dates.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

(2) The legislature finds that:

(a) Between 1986 and 2016, the number of students served in the state's transitional bilingual instruction program increased from fifteen thousand twenty-four to one hundred eighteen thousand five hundred twenty-six, an increase of six hundred eighty-nine percent, and that two-thirds of the students were native Spanish speakers; the next ten most common languages were Russian, Vietnamese, Somali, Chinese, Arabic, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Korean, Marshallese, and Punjabi;

(b) In the 2015-16 school year, forty-six percent of instructors in the state's transitional bilingual instruction program were instructional aides, or paraeducators, not certificated teachers; and

(c) Eleven percent of students in the transitional bilingual instruction program received instruction in their native language in the 2015-16 school year, and research shows that non-English speaking students develop academic proficiency in English more quickly when they are provided instruction in their native language initially.

(3) The legislature showed its commitment to equity in education by passing legislation creating a seal of biliteracy, requiring world language for high school graduation, easing the transitions of English learners, encouraging training for staff in cultural competence, monitoring the racial and ethnic data of teachers, and funding the creation of K-12 dual language programs.

(4) However, the legislature finds it is necessary to better serve non-English speaking students by addressing and closing the significant language and instructional gaps that hinder English learners from meeting the state's rigorous educational standards.

(5) Thus, the legislature intends to establish a comprehensive approach to support English learners by creating grant programs to: (a) Expand dual language programs for elementary and secondary students; and (b) recruit bilingual individuals to become educators who are able to provide instruction in, and support for, dual language programs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:

(1)(a) The K-12 dual language grant program is created to grow capacity for high quality dual language learning in the common schools and in state-tribal compact schools.

(b) A dual language program is an instructional model that provides content-based instruction to students in two languages: English and a target language other than English spoken in the local community, for example Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Russian, Arabic, native languages, or indigenous languages. The goal of the program is for students to eventually become proficient and literate in both languages, while also meeting high academic standards in all subject areas. Typically, programs begin at kindergarten or first grade and continue through at least elementary school. Two-way dual language programs begin with a balanced number of native and nonnative speakers of the target language so that both groups of students serve in the role of language modeler and language learner at different times. One-way dual language programs serve only nonnative English speakers.

(2)(a) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop and administer the grant program.

(b) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, by October 1, 2017, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must award grants of up to two hundred thousand dollars each through a competitive process to school districts or state-tribal compact schools proposing to: (i) Establish a two-way dual language program or a one-way dual language program in a school with predominantly English learners; or (ii) expand a recently established two-way dual language program or a one-way dual language program in a school with predominantly English learners. When awarding a grant to a school district or a state-tribal compact school proposing to establish a dual language program in a target language other than Spanish, the office must provide a bonus of up to twenty thousand dollars.

(c) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must identify criteria for awarding the grants, evaluate applicants, and award grant money. The office must select grantees that represent sufficient geographic, demographic, and enrollment diversity to produce meaningful data for the report required in section 6 of this act. The application must require, among other things, that the applicant describe: (i) How the program will serve the applicant's English learner population; (ii) the number of classrooms that the applicant expects to add with the grant money; (iii) the planned use of the grant money; (iv) the applicant's plan for student enrollment and outreach to families who speak the target language; (v) the applicant's plan to recruit and support bilingual paraeducators, classified staff, parents, and high school students to become bilingual teachers in the district or state-tribal compact school; (vi) the applicant's commitment to, and plan for, sustaining a dual language program beyond the grant period; and (vii) whether the school district board of directors or the governing body of a state-tribal compact school has expressed support for dual language programs.

(d) The grant money must be used for dual language program start-up and expansion costs, such as staff and teacher training, teacher recruitment, development and implementation of a dual language learning model and curriculum, and other costs identified in the application as key for start-up. The grant money may not be used for ongoing program costs.

(3) The grant period is two years. At the end of the grant period, the grantees must work with the office of the superintendent of public instruction to draft the report required in section 6 of this act.

(4) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must notify school districts and state-tribal compact schools of the grant program established under this section and provide ample time for the application process.

(5) The superintendent of public instruction may adopt rules to implement this section.

(6) This section expires July 1, 2020.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Within existing resources, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall facilitate dual language learning cohorts for school districts and state-tribal compact schools establishing or expanding dual language programs. The office must provide technical assistance and support to school districts and state-tribal compact schools implementing dual language programs, including those establishing or expanding dual language programs under section 1 of this act.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction may adopt rules to implement this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.180 RCW to read as follows:

In 2017, funds must be appropriated for the purposes in this section.

(1) The professional educator standards board, beginning in the 2017-2019 biennium, shall administer the bilingual educator initiative, which is a long-term program to recruit, prepare, and mentor bilingual high school students to become future bilingual teachers and counselors.

(2) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, pilot projects must be implemented in one or two school districts east of the crest of the Cascade mountains and one or two school districts west of the crest of the Cascade mountains, where immigrant students are shown to be rapidly increasing. Districts selected by the professional educator standards board must partner with at least one two-year and one four-year college in planning and implementing the program. The professional educator standards board shall provide oversight.

(3) Participating school districts must implement programs, including: (a) An outreach plan that exposes the program to middle school students and recruits them to enroll in the program when they begin their ninth grade of high school; (b) activities in ninth and tenth grades that help build student agency, such as self-confidence and awareness, while helping students to develop academic mind-sets needed for high school and college success; the value and benefits of teaching and counseling as careers; and introduction to leadership, civic engagement, and community service; (c) credit-bearing curricula in grades eleven and twelve that include mentoring, shadowing, best practices in teaching in a multicultural world, efficacy and practice of dual language instruction, social and emotional learning, enhanced leadership, civic engagement, and community service activities.

(4) There must be a pipeline to college using two-year and four-year college faculty and consisting of continuation services for program participants, such as advising, tutoring, mentoring, financial assistance, and leadership.

(5) High school and college teachers and counselors must be recruited and compensated to serve as mentors and trainers for participating students.

(6) After obtaining a high school diploma, students qualify to receive conditional loans to cover the full cost of college tuition, fees, and books. To qualify for funds, students must meet program requirements as developed by their local implementation team, which consists of staff from their school district and the partnering two-year and four-year college faculty.

(7) In order to avoid loan repayment, students must (a) earn their baccalaureate degree and certification needed to serve as a teacher or professional guidance counselor; and (b) teach or serve as a counselor in their educational service district region for at least five years. Students who do not meet the repayment terms in this subsection are subject to repaying all or part of the financial aid they receive for college unless students are recipients of funding provided through programs such as the state need grant program or the college bound scholarship program.

(8) Grantees must work with the professional educator standards board to draft the report required in section 6 of this act.

(9) The professional educator standards board may adopt rules to implement this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department of early learning must work with community partners to support outreach and education for parents and families around the benefits of native language development and retention, as well as the benefits of dual language learning. Native language means the language normally used by an individual or, in the case of a child or youth, the language normally used by the parents or family of the child or youth. Dual language learning means learning in two languages, generally English and a target language other than English spoken in the local community, for example Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Russian, Arabic, native languages, or indigenous languages where the goal is bilingualism.

(2) Within existing resources, the department must create training and professional development resources on dual language learning, such as supporting English learners, working in culturally and linguistically diverse communities, strategies for family engagement, and cultural responsiveness. The department must design the training modules to be culturally responsive.

(3) Within existing resources, the department must support dual language learning communities for teachers and coaches.

(4) The department may adopt rules to implement this section.

(a) Details the successes, best practices, lessons learned, and outcomes of the grant programs described in this act; and

(b) Describes how the K-12 education system has met the goals of each grant program and expanded their capacities to support dual language models of instruction because of this act, that is, how many more children were educated in dual language classrooms as a result of the grants in this act.

(2) This section expires July 1, 2020.

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