New Talking Points Memo Column: Why Doesn't English Language Learning Have the Same Cachet as Pre-K?

In his 2015 budget proposal yesterday, President Obama requested $723 million for Title III—the federal government's largest investment in language supports for English language learners (ELLs). This is less than Congress appropriated in each of 2009, 2010, and 2011. Meanwhile, the President proposed significant new investments in pre-K programs. In a new Talking Points Memo column today, I explore some of the challenges making it difficult for ELLs' advocates to get political traction.

Here's a sample:

Both ELL and early education advocates speak in terms of equity, civil rights, public investments in human capital, and national economic growth. Why is pre-K such an easier sell?

In part, it’s because pre-K benefits from universality. Every parent understands the importance of the early years of a child’s life. Americans love their kids—and they generally love policies that are good for children-in-general. It’s easy to imagine how universal pre-K programs benefit everyone, from students to families to schools to businesses.

The subset of parents who understand the challenges of learning English on the fly while at school is much smaller. Right now, we're already talking about one in ten American students, and their numbers are growing rapidly (by over 50 percent from 1995 to 2005). Sure, many American parents recognize bilingualism as an advantage for their children, but most native English-speaking families think of it as a high school enrichment project.