Any New Immersion Parents Worried that the program might get dismantled due to budget cuts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FLES is $6,054,708

umm, that is not immersion. That is a different program.

Found 6 million to cut in addition to immersion 2 million.

+1
Went to BTSN last night and sat through a presentation by the FLES teachers - talking in Spanish at us, as if we could understand anything they were saying. Now I see what my daughter is talking about when she tells us what their FLES classes are like. A teacher talking non-stop at the students for an hour, in a language they don't understand and aren't actually being taught. What an incredible waste of money and time that could be spent on learning, oh, I don't know, English grammar.

[Anonymous]

Question:

Do the native Spanish speaking kids enrolled in Spanish immersion also get ESOL services?

[Anonymous]

I get the strong bad feeling immersion is going bye bye. Anyone else as ominous as me??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the strong bad feeling immersion is going bye bye. Anyone else as ominous as me??

Not me. Are you the same person that keeps posting this everywhere and is afraid that the whole program is for ESOL?

[Anonymous]

No. The program is not for ESOL IMO, but I think they're going to can it. They may keep some of the Spanish immersions because there's a greater case, but maybe not.

[Anonymous]

ESOL is federally funded so it isn't a real budget issue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_III

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ESOL is federally funded so it isn't a real budget issue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_III

Ah yes, the generous $2M the county is given in Title III grants. The taxpayers of FCPS are still stuck with the lion's share of ESOL costs, to the tune of $65 M. Reference here (page 106): http://www.fcps.edu/fs/budget/documents/approved/FY15/ProgramBudgetFY15.pdf

[Anonymous]

I think the county will start charging fees for extras before they cut any of their programming.

[Anonymous]

Well, there is hope for immersion with the newly appointed Chief Academic Officer!

Francisco Durán Named Chief Academic Officer for Fairfax County Public Schools

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Karen K. Garza has named Francisco Durán, who currently serves as superintendent of Trenton (New Jersey) Public Schools as the new chief academic officer, effective Oct. 20. Duran replaces Kim Dockery, who retired.
“Francisco Durán is a seasoned educator with 23 years of experience in the classroom and in school leadership. He has a proven track record of success in improving student learning and in the successful implementation of educational programming,” said Garza. “Dr. Durán is considered a strong, collaborative leader who works diligently with stakeholders to build consensus, while valuing varied perspectives. Dr. Durán has studied our strategic plan and our Portrait of a Graduate and he embraces the direction that we have established away from high-stakes testing to more authentic engagement around 21st century skills. We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Durán to FCPS.”
Durán has served as superintendent in Trenton since July 2012, where he was responsible for increasing high school graduation rates, implementation of new teacher and administrator evaluations, establishment of a comprehensive instructional data management system, and implementing Spanish dual immersion programming. He instituted site-based budgeting using a formula based on student needs and his efforts to align and monitor the district’s budget resulted in a budget surplus at the end of his first year. Under his guidance, Trenton developed teacher recruitment policies and procedures to hire earlier and build a pool of qualified pre-screened candidates.
Prior to joining Trenton, Durán served as an assistant superintendent and regional superintendent with the School District of Philadelphia. There, he oversaw a decrease in the achievement gap on state assessment tests over a four-year period. Durán was responsible for implementing a school reform model at six of the most under-performing schools in the School District of Philadelphia.
As principal and assistant principal with the San Francisco Unified School District, Durán instituted a turnaround model, named Dream Schools, to reverse years of negative decline in student achievement and school climate. He also established an academic intervention program with differentiated programs based on students’ academic needs.
Durán has taught Spanish, social studies, language arts, and served as a special education paraprofessional. He has also served as an activities director and athletics director.
Durán earned his doctorate and master’s in education from Teachers College, Columbia University; a master’s in educational administration from San Francisco State University; and a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of New Mexico.
Durán is a past recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award from Phi Delta Kappa International, University of Pennsylvania Chapter, and received a certificate of honor and recognition for educational service from the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco.
###

[Anonymous]

I did not realize that Spanish immersion was dual immersion here. A parent just told me about that the other day. It would be interesting to know how the Spanish speaking kids do in that compared to ESOL programs in the other schools. I suspect they learn English better in the non-immersion programs.

This would also explain why they are changing one of the Herndon immersion schools from Spanish to French.

This is not going to help these kids assimilate into our country. Just sayin......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, there is hope for immersion with the newly appointed Chief Academic Officer!

Francisco Durán Named Chief Academic Officer for Fairfax County Public Schools

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Karen K. Garza has named Francisco Durán, who currently serves as superintendent of Trenton (New Jersey) Public Schools as the new chief academic officer, effective Oct. 20. Duran replaces Kim Dockery, who retired.
“Francisco Durán is a seasoned educator with 23 years of experience in the classroom and in school leadership. He has a proven track record of success in improving student learning and in the successful implementation of educational programming,” said Garza. “Dr. Durán is considered a strong, collaborative leader who works diligently with stakeholders to build consensus, while valuing varied perspectives. Dr. Durán has studied our strategic plan and our Portrait of a Graduate and he embraces the direction that we have established away from high-stakes testing to more authentic engagement around 21st century skills. We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Durán to FCPS.”
Durán has served as superintendent in Trenton since July 2012, where he was responsible for increasing high school graduation rates, implementation of new teacher and administrator evaluations, establishment of a comprehensive instructional data management system, and implementing Spanish dual immersion programming. He instituted site-based budgeting using a formula based on student needs and his efforts to align and monitor the district’s budget resulted in a budget surplus at the end of his first year. Under his guidance, Trenton developed teacher recruitment policies and procedures to hire earlier and build a pool of qualified pre-screened candidates.
Prior to joining Trenton, Durán served as an assistant superintendent and regional superintendent with the School District of Philadelphia. There, he oversaw a decrease in the achievement gap on state assessment tests over a four-year period. Durán was responsible for implementing a school reform model at six of the most under-performing schools in the School District of Philadelphia.
As principal and assistant principal with the San Francisco Unified School District, Durán instituted a turnaround model, named Dream Schools, to reverse years of negative decline in student achievement and school climate. He also established an academic intervention program with differentiated programs based on students’ academic needs.
Durán has taught Spanish, social studies, language arts, and served as a special education paraprofessional. He has also served as an activities director and athletics director.
Durán earned his doctorate and master’s in education from Teachers College, Columbia University; a master’s in educational administration from San Francisco State University; and a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of New Mexico.
Durán is a past recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award from Phi Delta Kappa International, University of Pennsylvania Chapter, and received a certificate of honor and recognition for educational service from the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco.
###

Argh.... Trenton NJ schools are a model of crap. I moved here to get away from them. Seriously, where do they find these people....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not realize that Spanish immersion was dual immersion here. A parent just told me about that the other day. It would be interesting to know how the Spanish speaking kids do in that compared to ESOL programs in the other schools. I suspect they learn English better in the non-immersion programs.

This would also explain why they are changing one of the Herndon immersion schools from Spanish to French.

This is not going to help these kids assimilate into our country. Just sayin......

There are only a six dual immersion programs in FCPS, and only at the Kindergarten level. Beyond kindergarten it is a partial immersion program.

[Anonymous]

ESOL Spending:
Expenditures $80,294,976
Offsetting Revenue $12,830,647
Offsetting Grant Funding $2,045,561
School Operating Fund Net Cost $65,418,769

Change ESOL Expenditures to $12,830,647 + $2,045,561 = $14,876,208
(savings of $65,418,769 - $14,876208 = $50,542,561

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ESOL is federally funded so it isn't a real budget issue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_III

Ah yes, the generous $2M the county is given in Title III grants. The taxpayers of FCPS are still stuck with the lion's share of ESOL costs, to the tune of $65 M. Reference here (page 106): http://www.fcps.edu/fs/budget/documents/approved/FY15/ProgramBudgetFY15.pdf

Thank you. I was wondering how much federal funding FCPS received for this. Now it's clear the program is still funded by taxpayers at about $63 M.

[Anonymous]

ESOL Spending:
Expenditures $80,294,976
Offsetting Revenue $12,830,647
Offsetting Grant Funding $2,045,561
School Operating Fund Net Cost $65,418,769

Change ESOL Expenditures to $12,830,647 + $2,045,561 = $14,876,208
(savings of $65,418,769 - $14,876208 = $50,542,561

Where does the offsetting revenue come from?