Last month, Senator Hillary Clinton and Congressman Michael Honda filed the Strengthening Communities Through Education and Integration Act of 2008, which would provide funding for ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), increase the availability of English and civics classes for both children and adults, and attempting, through tax credits, to involve business in the provision of services to employees. It would also provide integration grants so that states can assess the needs and circumstances of their immigrant populations in hopes that comprehensive integration plans/programs can be developed.
I think this is a great idea, personally; my parents are immigrants, and Massachusetts has a very high population of immigrants. Immigrants make up 14% of Massachusetts’ workforce, but a significant number of those people have anything from language barriers to problems with literacy. One would think that the state’s representatives would be all over this, but as it turns out, nobody is. Read the rest of this entry »
