RI
Rhode Island Senate Bill S0559

Rhode Island 2023 Regular Session

Rhode Island Senate Bill S0559 Compare Versions

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99 S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
1010 IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1111 JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
1212 ____________
1313
1414 A N A C T
15-RELATING TO EDUCATION -- POSTSECONDARY STUDEN T FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
15+RELATING TO EDUCATION -- MULTILINGUAL EDUCATORS INVESTMENT ACT
1616 Introduced By: Senators Cano, Acosta, Euer, DiMario, Murray, Mack, Quezada, Pearson,
1717 Gallo, and Burke
1818 Date Introduced: March 07, 2023
1919 Referred To: Senate Finance
2020
2121
2222 It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
23-SECTION 1. Chapter 16-56 of the General Laws entitled "Postsecondary Student Financial 1
24-Assistance" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 2
25-16-56-14. Re-appropriation to RI Reconnect program for certifying multilingual and 3
26-special needs instructors. 4
27-The sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) of the eight million dollars 5
28-($8,000,000.00) appropriated to the office of the postsecondary commissioner for the RI Reconnect 6
29-program, shall be allocated to invest in certifications of instructors or teachers for dual 7
30-language/multilingual certification and/or special needs certification. The requirements in this 8
31-section shall be in addition to the those imposed by the act making appropriations for the support 9
32-of the state for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. 10
33-SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2023. 11
23+SECTION 1. Findings of fact. 1
24+(1) The demographic divide between teachers and students is of growing public concern. 2
25+(2) Currently, multilingual students comprise twenty-seven percent (27%) of students in 3
26+Rhode Island’s urban core student population and sixteen percent (16%) of Rhode Island’s 4
27+statewide student population (Rhode Island Kids Count, 2022). 5
28+(3) Only two percent (2%) of multilingual learners are in enrolled in dual language 6
29+programs and comprise a large portion of urban core and urban ring school students. 7
30+(5) A common explanation of why the demographic divide is so concerning is that 8
31+multilingual students benefit most from instruction from teachers that are certified in dual language 9
32+instruction. 10
33+(6) More students benefiting from dual language instruction may, in turn, translate into 11
34+better academic outcomes such as student motivation, improved interest in academics, and grades. 12
35+(7) Multilingual educators represent excellent role models and provide a continuous source 13
36+of inspiration for not only multilingual students, but all students. 14
37+(8) Linguistic separation and isolation can be countered through significant investment in 15
38+multilingual educators that will deliver academic content through multiple languages 16
39+(9) Students learn important societal lessons through the example of cooperative interracial 17
40+and interethnic relationships among teachers. 18
41+(10) It is in the best interest of the state, its residents, and its students to develop and support 19
42+
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45+certified multilingual educators. The Rhode Island Blueprint for a Multilingual Learner Success 1
46+(2021) calls for a nimble system that "Secures and allocates human and fiscal resources to support 2
47+high-quality core instruction to meet the diverse needs of MLLs, including professional learning 3
48+opportunities for all teachers and administrators." 4
49+(11) Support for increased preparation and training of bilingual/dual language and world 5
50+language teachers can successfully be leveraged by providing direct financial support to Rhode 6
51+Island college and the university of Rhode Island working to increase the number of certified 7
52+bilingual/dual language and world language teachers. 8
53+SECTION 2. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by 9
54+adding thereto the following chapter: 10
55+CHAPTER 112 11
56+MULTILINGUAL EDUCATORS INVESTMENT ACT 12
57+16-112-1. Short title. 13
58+This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Multilingual Educators Investment 14
59+Act". 15
60+16-112-2. Definitions. 16
61+When used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following 17
62+meanings: 18
63+(1) "FAFSA" means the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form; 19
64+(2) "Mandatory fees and tuition" means the costs that every student is required to pay in 20
65+order to enroll in classes, and does not include room and board, textbooks, program fees that may 21
66+exist in some majors, course fees that may exist for some specific courses, meal plans, or travel; 22
67+(3) "Multilingual educator" means an educator who has demonstrated advanced 23
68+proficiency in at least two (2) languages. 24
69+(i) "Bilingual dual language educator" means a teacher who is certified by the Rhode Island 25
70+department of elementary and secondary education to serve in a bilingual or dual language 26
71+education classroom. 27
72+(ii) "World language educator" means a teacher who is certified by the Rhode Island 28
73+department of elementary and secondary education to serve in a world language classroom. 29
74+(4) "Multilingual learner" means a student who speaks a language other than English at 30
75+home: 31
76+(i) "English language learner" is a multilingual learner who is undergoing the process of 32
77+becoming proficient in English; 33
78+(5) "Recipient" or "recipient student" means a student attending Rhode Island college, the 34
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82+university of Rhode Island, or another state approved program that offers certification programs for 1
83+world language and/or bilingual dual language who qualifies and is awarded a scholarship pursuant 2
84+to the provisions of § 16-112-4. 3
85+(6) "Scholarship" or "scholarship program" means the scholarship program that is 4
86+established pursuant to § 16-112-4 to promote and increase the quality of multilingual teachers in 5
87+urban core and urban ring public schools. 6
88+(7) "State" means the State of Rhode Island. 7
89+(8) "Urban core" means the municipalities of Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, 8
90+Woonsocket and Newport. 9
91+(9) "Urban ring" means the municipalities of Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick, North 10
92+Providence and East Providence. 11
93+16-112-3. Strategy to expand teaching certifications for bilingual dual language and 12
94+world language teachers. 13
95+The office of the postsecondary commissioner is hereby empowered and directed to 14
96+collaborate with the department of elementary and secondary education and in consultation with 15
97+Rhode Island college, the university of Rhode Island, and any other state approved program that 16
98+prepares teachers for world language and/or bilingual/dual language certification to prioritize, 17
99+improve, and expand the program options and available space to result in an increase in the issuance 18
100+of teaching certificates to promote and increase the number of bilingual dual language and world 19
101+language teachers in urban and urban ring schools. 20
102+16-112-4. Scholarship program. 21
103+(a) Beginning July 1, 2023, there is hereby established a scholarship program to promote 22
104+and increase the number of multilingual educators in urban core and urban ring public schools. 23
105+(b) The general assembly shall annually appropriate, commencing in fiscal year 2024, the 24
106+sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) to implement the scholarship purposes of this chapter. 25
107+Additional funds beyond the scholarships may be appropriated to support and advance the 26
108+scholarship program established pursuant to the provisions of this section. In addition to 27
109+appropriation by the general assembly, charitable donations may be accepted into the scholarship 28
110+program. 29
111+(c) The financial aid office, in conjunction with the office of enrollment management or 30
112+their respective equivalent offices, at Rhode Island college and the university of Rhode Island, shall 31
113+administer the scholarship program for state residents seeking graduate certificates or degrees who 32
114+meet the eligibility requirements in subsection (d) of this section. 33
115+(d) To be eligible for receipt of the scholarship, a student: 34
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119+(1) Shall be pursuing a pre-kindergarten through grade twelve (Pre-K-12) teacher 1
120+certification as part of the teacher preparation program in the Feinstein school of education and 2
121+human development (FSEHD) at Rhode Island college or the school of education at the university 3
122+of Rhode Island; 4
123+(2) Shall commit to work full-time as a teacher within one year of graduation at a public 5
124+urban core or urban ring school in Rhode Island. The commitment to work full-time shall extend 6
125+to one year of teaching for each year the recipient received and accepted an award of scholarship 7
126+pursuant to the provisions of this chapter; 8
127+(3) Shall qualify for in-state tuition and fees pursuant to the residency policy adopted by 9
128+the council on postsecondary education, as amended, supplemented, restated, or otherwise modified 10
129+from time to time ("residency policy"); 11
130+(4) Shall be admitted to, and must enroll and attend Rhode Island college or the university 12
131+of Rhode Island; 13
132+(5) Shall complete the FAFSA and any required FAFSA verification or the Rhode Island 14
133+alternative application for state postsecondary student financial assistance by the deadline 15
134+prescribed by Rhode Island college and/or the university of Rhode Island for each year in which 16
135+the student seeks to receive funding under the scholarship program by deadline prescribed by 17
136+Rhode Island college and/or the university of Rhode Island; 18
137+(6) Shall maintain an average annual cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or 19
138+greater, as determined by Rhode Island college or the university of Rhode Island; 20
139+(7) Shall remain on track to graduate on time as determined by Rhode Island college or the 21
140+university of Rhode Island; and 22
141+(8) Shall commit to repayment of all funds received by the scholarship program if the 23
142+recipient student fails to complete or comply with all requirements and provisions of this chapter. 24
143+(d) Rhode Island college and the university of Rhode Island shall develop a policy and 25
144+procedure to secure the commitments from recipient students. 26
145+(e) Every scholarship awarded pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be calculated 27
146+annually. Each applicant and/or recipient shall complete the FAFSA and any required FAFSA 28
147+verification by the deadline prescribed by Rhode Island college or the university of Rhode Island 29
148+for each year of attendance. The scholarship award shall cover the annual cost of mandatory fees 30
149+and tuition, less federal and all other financial aid monies available to the recipient student. Once 31
150+awarded, the scholarship may continue for a period of up to two (2) years conditioned on the 32
151+recipient student's compliance with the provisions of this section. 33
152+(f) All scholarships awarded pursuant to the provisions of this section are subject to 34
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156+appropriation, and no applicant shall have a right to receive any scholarship pursuant to the 1
157+provisions of this section until awarded. 2
158+16-112-5. Scholarship award preference. 3
159+In selecting students as recipients of the scholarship established pursuant to § 16-112-4, 4
160+preference shall be given to the following applicants: 5
161+(1) Multilingual adults with bachelor degrees from the United States and abroad; and 6
162+(2) Multilingual undergraduate students enrolled in teacher education programs. 7
163+16-112-6. Promulgation of rules and procedure. 8
164+The department of elementary and secondary education is authorized to promulgate rules 9
165+and regulations to effectuate the purpose of this chapter. In addition, Rhode Island college and the 10
166+university of Rhode Island shall establish appeal procedures for the award, denial, repayment, or 11
167+revocation of a scholarship award pursuant to the provisions of §16-112-4. 12
168+SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2023. 13
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40175 EXPLANATION
41176 BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
42177 OF
43178 A N A C T
44-RELATING TO EDUCATION -- POSTSECONDARY STUDEN T FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
179+RELATING TO EDUCATION -- MULTILINGUAL EDUCATO RS INVESTMENT ACT
45180 ***
46-This act would require the office of the postsecondary commissioner to allocate $500,000 1
47-to the RI Reconnect program for the purpose of certifying instructors in multilanguage certification 2
48-and/or special needs certifications. 3
49-This act would take effect on July 1, 2023. 4
181+This act would authorize the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to 1
182+establish a program to expand the issuance of teaching certificates to bilingual dual language and 2
183+world language teachers in urban and urban ring schools; would establish a scholarship program to 3
184+promote and increase the number of bilingual dual language and world language teachers in urban 4
185+and urban ring schools; and would establish the scholarship eligibility requirements and 5
186+preferences. 6
187+This act would take effect on July 1, 2023. 7
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