Education Funding for Foreign Languages Cut

From http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2012/01/16/education-funding-for-foreign-languages-cut

Education Funding for Foreign Languages Cut
By Jason Koebler
January 16, 2012

The Department of Education program that funded $27 million worth of foreign language education grants—which were split by a mix of 55 charter schools, school districts, and states—was cut in the recent budget bill, leaving the future of foreign language classes at these schools in jeopardy.

"What this cut does is pull the rug out from these programs," Martha Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFA), says. Because the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grants were awarded in three- or five-year increments, affected schools will have to scramble to find funding.

FLAP's absence might affect more than the schools that were being funded. Abbott says that the money was often used to pilot new foreign language classes that could then be emulated in other schools in each district. Pilot program teachers would then train other teachers to multiply each grant's effect.

Read the full article at http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2012/01/16/education-funding-for-foreign-languages-cut