2017 TESOL, Advocacy & Policy Summit

Lila Birchfield

Becoming an education advocate at the federal level is a simple process. Contact your U.S. Senators and local Representative via their preferred method which can be found at their websites. For both Senator Durbin and Senator Duckworth, I emailed their schedulers who in turn gave me phone numbers of the legislative assistants whom I contacted directly to set the appointments for the Capitol Hill visits. The only challenging part is to schedule your visits far enough apart that you have time to go from one to the next. Fortunately, both of our Illinois senators have offices in the Hart Building, two floors apart. Our delegation had a 10:30 a.m. appointment with Josie Villanueva, Legislative Assistant, and Joshua Thomas, Legislative Correspondent to Senator Tammy Duckworth. The meeting lasted about thirty minutes. At 11:30 a.m., we were two floors up meeting with Senator Durbin’s Legislative Fellow, Emily Webb, in the Senator’s conference room. All the assistants welcomed us, listened intently to our concerns and asked pertinent questions. We all agreed to stay in touch.
As delegates from ITBE, Maria Alanis and I joined representatives from thirty states and France at TESOL’s Advocacy Day and Policy Summit held in Alexandria, VA from June 18 – 20, 2017. Alan Seaman, Professor and Director of TESOL at Wheaton College, joined us in representing the interests of ELs in Illinois. At the top of the three-day summit, we were given a civics lesson on how federal budgets are proposed and passed as well as presentations on TESOL’s policy recommendations for the 115^th U.S. Congress. We heard from experts and had opportunities to ask questions specific to our educational situation. The four areas of concern at TESOL’s thirteenth summit were recommendations to:

fully fund Titles I, II, III of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
fully fund Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
maintain funding levels for the International Education and Cultural Exchange
pass the Bar Removal of Individuals Who Dream of Growing Our Economy (BRIDGE) Act

        Maria Alanis, recently retired director of ESL and Bilingual Education in Champaign Unit 4 and Advocacy Chair for ITBE, spoke about funding for ESSA, specifically Title II-A, funding for professional development for educators. Alan Seaman reiterated the educational and political value of the cultural exchanges and English language teaching programs funded through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. As an ELA instructor at Harper College, I addressed the need for full funding of WIOA. Our trio covered the range of educational levels-- K-12, Adult Education and Higher Education. Equally significant was the fact that we individually brought field experience that aligned with TESOL International’s areas of concern. As we spoke with the senators’ assistants, we reiterated TESOL’s funding recommendations in our respective areas as they related to President Trump’s 2018 FY proposed budget.
        Maria Alanis explained why TESOL International’s call for Title II-A of ESSA to be funded at the authorized level of $649.2 million is so fundamental to the professional development of classroom teachers and school administrators. In order to best serve their students in the classroom, teachers must have access to continuing education opportunities. With the Illinois budget impasse, federal dollars are even more critical.
Alan Seaman gave a first-hand account of Wheaton College graduate students working in an English-language teaching program in the Philippines sponsored by the Department of State. The entire program has been slashed in the FY 2018 proposed budget. Professor Seaman, who has been involved in many government sponsored programs, stated that cultural exchanges should be our first line of defense in counteracting geopolitical strife.
        In my role as an adjunct instructor in William Rainey Harper College’s English Language Acquisition program, I explained the negative impact on adult students at the Education and Work Center (EWC) in Hanover Park if the proposed funding cuts to the Workforce Innovative Opportunity Act are made. Title I of WIOA which funds Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth has a proposed 40% reduction or $816 million to $490 million while Title II which provides Adult Education and Literacy is proposed to be cut 16% or $581 million to $416 million.   EWC is a role model for WIOA and Integrated Educational Training.
        TESOL International Association and your state affiliate, Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages-Bilingual Education, advocate for you and your students. Likewise, you can lend your own voice to the ongoing dialogue in Washington, D.C. regarding education funding. Write or call your U.S. Congressmen today and tell them how the proposed cuts to the FY 2018 budget will impact your students.   Then go to TESOL’s website next spring and register for TESOL’s 2018 Advocacy Day and Policy Summit in Alexandria, Virginia.

_________________________________________________________________________
Lila Birchfield is the Secondary Interest Group Co-Chair at ITBE and an ELA adjunct instructor at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. She is interested in advocacy for her students and has attended TESOL Advocacy Day and Policy Summit twice.


2017 TESOL, Advocacy & Policy Summit Lila Birchfield Becoming an education advocate at the federal level is a simple process. Contact your U.S. Senators and local Representative via their preferred method which can be found at their websites. For both Senator Durbin and Senator Duckworth, I emailed their schedulers who in turn gave me phone numbers of the legislative assistants whom I contacted directly to set the appointments for the Capitol Hill visits. The only challenging part is to schedule your visits far enough apart that you have time to go from one to the next. Fortunately, both of our Illinois senators have offices in the Hart Building, two floors apart. Our delegation had a 10:30 a.m. appointment with Josie Villanueva, Legislative Assistant, and Joshua Thomas, Legislative Correspondent to Senator Tammy Duckworth. The meeting lasted about thirty minutes. At 11:30 a.m., we were two floors up meeting with Senator Durbin’s Legislative Fellow, Emily Webb, in the Senator’s conference room. All the assistants welcomed us, listened intently to our concerns and asked pertinent questions. We all agreed to stay in touch. As delegates from ITBE, Maria Alanis and I joined representatives from thirty states and France at TESOL’s Advocacy Day and Policy Summit held in Alexandria, VA from June 18 – 20, 2017. Alan Seaman, Professor and Director of TESOL at Wheaton College, joined us in representing the interests of ELs in Illinois. At the top of the three-day summit, we were given a civics lesson on how federal budgets are proposed and passed as well as presentations on TESOL’s policy recommendations for the 115^th U.S. Congress. We heard from experts and had opportunities to ask questions specific to our educational situation. The four areas of concern at TESOL’s thirteenth summit were recommendations to: fully fund Titles I, II, III of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) fully fund Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) maintain funding levels for the International Education and Cultural Exchange pass the Bar Removal of Individuals Who Dream of Growing Our Economy (BRIDGE) Act Maria Alanis, recently retired director of ESL and Bilingual Education in Champaign Unit 4 and Advocacy Chair for ITBE, spoke about funding for ESSA, specifically Title II-A, funding for professional development for educators. Alan Seaman reiterated the educational and political value of the cultural exchanges and English language teaching programs funded through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. As an ELA instructor at Harper College, I addressed the need for full funding of WIOA. Our trio covered the range of educational levels-- K-12, Adult Education and Higher Education. Equally significant was the fact that we individually brought field experience that aligned with TESOL International’s areas of concern. As we spoke with the senators’ assistants, we reiterated TESOL’s funding recommendations in our respective areas as they related to President Trump’s 2018 FY proposed budget. Maria Alanis explained why TESOL International’s call for Title II-A of ESSA to be funded at the authorized level of $649.2 million is so fundamental to the professional development of classroom teachers and school administrators. In order to best serve their students in the classroom, teachers must have access to continuing education opportunities. With the Illinois budget impasse, federal dollars are even more critical. Alan Seaman gave a first-hand account of Wheaton College graduate students working in an English-language teaching program in the Philippines sponsored by the Department of State. The entire program has been slashed in the FY 2018 proposed budget. Professor Seaman, who has been involved in many government sponsored programs, stated that cultural exchanges should be our first line of defense in counteracting geopolitical strife. In my role as an adjunct instructor in William Rainey Harper College’s English Language Acquisition program, I explained the negative impact on adult students at the Education and Work Center (EWC) in Hanover Park if the proposed funding cuts to the Workforce Innovative Opportunity Act are made. Title I of WIOA which funds Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth has a proposed 40% reduction or $816 million to $490 million while Title II which provides Adult Education and Literacy is proposed to be cut 16% or $581 million to $416 million. EWC is a role model for WIOA and Integrated Educational Training. TESOL International Association and your state affiliate, Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages-Bilingual Education, advocate for you and your students. Likewise, you can lend your own voice to the ongoing dialogue in Washington, D.C. regarding education funding. Write or call your U.S. Congressmen today and tell them how the proposed cuts to the FY 2018 budget will impact your students. Then go to TESOL’s website next spring and register for TESOL’s 2018 Advocacy Day and Policy Summit in Alexandria, Virginia. _________________________________________________________________________ Lila Birchfield is the Secondary Interest Group Co-Chair at ITBE and an ELA adjunct instructor at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. She is interested in advocacy for her students and has attended TESOL Advocacy Day and Policy Summit twice.
ITBE Link - Winter 2017 - Volume 45 Number 2