Holt, Lautenberg Introduce Bill to Support Innovative Approaches to Foreign Language Teaching

From http://holt.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=841&Itemid=18

Thursday, 26 May 2011

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) and Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today announced that they have introduced, in both the House and the Senate, the Foreign Language Education Partnership Program Act, which would support revolutionary classroom programs that provide carefully sequenced foreign language classes from kindergarten through high school.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, however, only 44 percent of American high school students are enrolled in foreign language classes, and only 31 percent of American elementary schools even offer foreign languages.

To address these problems, the bill would create a new K-12/higher education foreign language education partnership program. It would provide up to $50 million in annual funding for model programs of sequenced foreign language instruction from K-12, with the goal of graduating high school students with an advanced level of proficiency. Any foreign language is eligible, but the Secretary of Education may establish priorities on languages critical to national needs.

Read the full press release at http://holt.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=841&Itemid=18

See the text of the bill at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-1015