BERWYN – Abdelnasser Rashid, a state representative for the southwest side of Chicago, believes that his children’s Arabic language education could be improved. He thinks that taking a few classes every week isn’t enough for them to become fluent.
Rashid points out that dual language schools, where half the classes are in English and half in another language, yield better results.
“We’re talking about immersion, and being able to finish middle school proficient in both languages,” Rashid said.
To help districts expand their dual language programs, Rashid sponsored HB3822 this year. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it into law in July, and it goes into effect in January.
Starting in January, the state Advisory Council on Bilingual Education has a year to create a report on how districts can incentivize and pay for dual language programs.
Rashid said the idea came from parents who wanted dual language programs and a teacher already at a dual language school.
“I learned that there wasn’t really a way for schools that want to offer more dual language programs to quickly get a blueprint for what they should do. Everyone was on their own,” Rashid said.
The law requires the council to look into how districts can overcome multilingual teacher shortages. Rashid hopes to further address that problem with a bill in the spring.
Emily Hays is a reporter for Illinois Public Media. Follow her on Twitter@amihatt.
