California education chief visits Oxnard school to highlight its dual-language program

Juan Soria Elementary University in Oxnard welcomed California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond on Tuesday to fulfill pupils enrolled in the school’s dual-language immersion program.

The stop by was held to advertise Senate Invoice 952, which would grow funding for twin-language immersion programs at California community colleges like the one particular in location at Soria Elementary. In accordance to the California Department of Education, 747 community educational facilities in the condition present dual-language immersion plans and almost 1,500 give some kind of bilingual programming.

Thurmond was joined by point out Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, writer of SB 952 and whose senate district includes Soria Elementary.

Limón praised the twin-language immersion software at the Oxnard web-site and reported she wrote the monthly bill immediately after Thurmond approached her about replicating its success elsewhere.

“Our invoice is about expanding that option to faculty districts across the point out,” Limón reported.

Thurmond and Limón frequented a course of sixth-quality pupils who had been in dual Spanish and English language immersion considering the fact that kindergarten. The pupils requested queries in Spanish and English and spoke about the function of twin-language immersion in their life.

“These college students talked about, in a actually articulate way, why a software like this is so critical,” Thurmond explained.

Thurmond also noted the worth of funding pubic education systems in substantial need like bilingual immersion, primarily in mild of declining enrollment figures released by the Division of Instruction on Monday.

Quite a few advocates also spoke throughout the stop by, which includes Marlene Batista, who functions as the director of qualified human methods for the Oxnard Faculty District and sits on the board of the California Affiliation for Bilingual Education and learning, a nonprofit advocacy team.

Batista spoke, to start with in English and then in Spanish, about about the World California 2030 initiative, which aims to have a lot more than fifty percent of all K-12 learners in the point out to be proficient in far more than one particular language.

Tale carries on

“The demographics of California demand representation of the range of the globe neighborhood, which is why our little ones deliver comprehensive property of prosperous linguistic and cultural identification into our school rooms,” Batista claimed.

As for the current development of the monthly bill, SB 952 handed the California Senate Education Committee on March 30 in a unanimous vote. It heads next to the California Senate Appropriations Committee in which a listening to is at this time established for April 18.

Jeremy Childs is a breaking information and public protection reporter covering the night change for the Ventura County Star. He can be achieved by contacting 805-437-0208 or emailing [email protected]. You can also locate him on Twitter @Jeremy_Childs.

This post initially appeared on Ventura County Star: Superintendent Tony Thurmond visits Oxnard school to advertise SB 952