Advocacy
Advocacy Committee
Our mission is to respond to your concerns about legislative and other issues impacting your practice as ELL and Bilingual Educators. We research the issues that you care about and disseminate our findings via advocacy webpage updates.
Advocacy Committee Chair: Gina Wells (gjwells@itbe.org)
Advocacy Committee Chair: Sandra Moran (smoran@itbe.org)
Federal Funding of Education - FY26 Appropriations. The President's Proposal and the House Appropriations Subcommittee seek to eliminate funding for ELT education and for English learners in public and adult education. The Senate Appropriations Committee, though, has advanced its proposal that would level-fund these programs (keep funding at the same level as the prior year). You can read more about the process and share with your members the opportunity to contact their Members of Congress in voicing support for the federal funding of education here:
https://www.votervoice.net/TESOL/campaigns/126890/respond
"Dear Colleague Letter, 2015" 2025 TESOL Advocacy Action Events Information
Websites
- TESOL International Association: Advocacy resources. www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/advocacy-resources
- ACTFL: Be an advocate for language education. www.actfl.org/advocacy
Reading Materials
- Staehr Fenner, D. (2014). Advocating for English learners: A guide for educators. Corwin. (A free copy of the Chapter 1 is available here.)
- Uysal, H. (2021). Immigrant students are rural students too. Follow the Leader, 2(1), 42. (Free access through this link)
Audio-Visual Materials
- Leung, K. (2018, July). Embracing multilingualism and eradicating linguistic bias [Video]. TED Conferences. (Free access through this link)
- Jack, A. A. (2019, June). On diversity: Access ain’t inclusion [Video]. TED Conferences. (Free access through this link)
- Kaufmann, J. (Host), & Morgan-Short, K., & Potowski, K. (Guests). (2019, April 4). What will it take for our schools to embrace bilingual education? [Audio podcast episode]. In Extension 720. WGN Radio. (Free access through this link)
- de Jong, E., & Gao, J. (2019). Taking a multilingual stance: A continuum of practices. MinneTESOL Journal, 35(1). (Free access through this link)
- de Jong, E. J. (2019). Expanding EAL expertise: Taking a multilingual stance. TESOL in Context, 28(1), 5–20. (Free access through this link)
- Office for Civil Rights (2022). Race and national origin discrimination: Overview of the Law. U.S. Department of Education. (Free access through this link)
- Office for Civil Rights (2020). Developing programs for English language learners: Legal background. U.S. Department of Education. (Free access through this link)
- TESOL Advocacy Action Center: https://www.tesol.org/advocacy/events/advocacy-action-days/
- WIOA Works Illinois: https://www.illinoisworknet.com/WIOA
- U.S. Department of Labor, ETA Advisories and Directives: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, A Guide for New Immigrants: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/M-618.pdf
- Funding ESSA and WIOA/AEFLA FY2023: https://www.votervoice.net/TESOL/Campaigns/99435/Respond
Attached is the letter that several of us received from Jeff Hutcheson, Director, Advocacy & Public Policy, regarding the proposed cuts to (up to potential elimination of) ESEA Title III funds, Title II-A funds, and Title I grant funding for FY24. These cuts are deep and could lead to the loss of 220,000 teaching positions in the US.
Please share this information and encourage your colleagues to contact their US Representatives and Senators. The cuts proposed impact all of us and if you have colleagues/friends in other states, please share this information with them, as well. The proposed cuts also impact WIDA funding, Federal Work Study, and a plethora of other federal programs. You can find the full draft of the bill at this link. Please take a few minutes to read it. The proposed cuts to funding are very extensive.
This is an extremely urgent matter and your voice is needed. Write, call, and/or visit your US Representatives' and Senators' local offices. Let them know that you do not support these cuts to funding. Here is a direct link to the TESOL Advocacy Action Center where it is possible to contact US Representatives and Senators.
Advocacy equals Action!
Sincerely
Gina Johnson Wells, PhD
ITBE Advocacy Co-Chair
gjwells@itbe.org
The Racism-Free Schools Act (Senate Bill 90 and House Bill 2049) will protect students and teachers by requiring all schools to have a policy specifically addressing race-related harassment and discrimination, as they already do for sexual harassment. Schools will also be required to train employees to recognize and report incidents and communicate student rights and reporting options to families in accessible, age-appropriate language. To learn more, see this factsheet or visit racismfreeschools.org.
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