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Committee approves bilingual-education resolution after coalition testimony; amendment adds Senate bill 255
Summary
A coalition of more than 30 organizations urged the committee to back legislation expanding multilingual education and teacher pipelines; the committee approved the bilingual-education resolution and amended it to include Senate bill 255.
The Special Committee on State Legislative Affairs on May 4 heard testimony from a coalition urging greater investment in multilingual education and workforce development before approving a bilingual-education resolution as amended to include a companion Senate bill.
A coalition representative told the committee the group comprises more than 30 organizations, spanning youth and family-led groups, policy organizations and higher-education partners, and that Providence Public Schools has a large share of students designated as multilingual learners. The coalition described an initiative called TONA (Multilingual Educators), said it has a Rhode Island Foundation catalyst grant supporting recruitment and training, and reported that roughly 200 multilingual adults had connected with training or outreach since October.
Committee members discussed aligning the house and senate measures and agreed to amend the house-filed resolution to also include Senate bill 255. The committee then approved the bilingual-education item "as amended." The endorsement records local support for expanding bilingual education programs and investing in teacher pipelines; any legislative changes or funding will be determined at the state level.
