Fontana Herald Articles on FUSD

FUSD spends millions on English language learners; funding comes from outside sources
By ALEJANDRO CANO
Published: Saturday, March 6, 2010 5:06 PM CST

The Fontana Unified School District spends roughly $5 million a year educating those students who speak any other language than English at home, state records show.
But the money which is used to benefit these students comes from state and federal funds, not the FUSD general budget.
According to Education Data Partnership (Ed-Data), the FUSD spent a total of $341.6 million during the 2007-2008 school year, out of which more than $166 million was invested in certified teacher salaries.

The data shows that FUSD spent more than $50 million in classified salaries during the same period, and a little more than $25 million in books and supplies.

Among the student population of about 41,000, of which 83 percent are Latino, a little more than 16,000 are English Language Learners (ELL). According to the California Department of Education (CDE), out of this number, more than 15,000 speak Spanish at home.

“Students who enroll in public education come to us with varying educational needs. We receive categorical funding to provide services to students who come to us and are identified as English Language Learners, Special Education, GATE, and/or Economically Disadvantaged,” said Cali Olsen-Binks, the FUSD Superintendent.

Binks added that FUSD has no additional staff to support ELL students and those teachers are required by the State of California to be certified to teach when the classroom population is more than 20 percent ELL.

“Our district has invested in staff development to further extend the knowledge and skills of our teachers in the area of ELL, but students who are performing low in language and vocabulary development benefit from this expertise as well,” said Olsen-Binks.

The superintendent also said that general fund dollars are used to offer translated information to parents of ELL students as mandated by law.

“The state funds we receive in categorical programs are being funded at the 07-08 level until the year 2013,” she added.

Out of 14,930 ELL students tested, 11 percent performed at an advanced level while 37 percent are at the intermediate level.

Countywide, there were more than 90,000 ELL students enrolled during the 2008-2009 school year. In California, there were more than 1.5 million ELL students enrolled during the same school period.

Reports indicate that public schools in San Bernardino County are spending more than $34 million in state and federal money to educate ELL students this year, an amount that has created controversy because some people believe that it is not worth spending that much.

However, federal law requires public schools to provide free education to all regardless of immigration and financial status.

The school-age population in the nation is about 53 million; however, this number could reach 58 million by 2020, experts said. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C., more than 80 percent of that growth will be the children of immigrant parents.

According to data, local districts receive funding from the state Economic Impact Aid; monies from the federal Title III, which benefits immigrant students; and money from the English Language Acquisition Program, which benefits students in the fourth to eighth grade.

Some monies also come from programs that benefit English learners that need special education and those enrolled in the Gifted and Talented Education program.

While the controversy continues, the FUSD has developed an eight-goal plan to benefit ELL students. The plan states that FUSD will develop and implement effective programs; will ensure that all students have access to the programs to master the English language; will ensure that all have access and master the core curriculum; will decrease the risk of failure, retention and drop-out rate; will promote bi-literacy in Bilingual Alternative Programs; will strengthen parent involvement; will increase EL participation in advanced academic programs; and will engage ELL students in meaningful cultural, social and academic activities.