[GLC] Newsday article on IOI

[Nell Eckersley]

Column in today's Newsday!

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Money would put words in their mouths

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Sheryl McCarthy

 

June 6, 2005

 

When Gloria Garrido describes how learning to speak English "changed my
life," you are inclined to believe her. A native of Colombia who was living
with her husband until his violence forced her and her three children into a
city homeless shelter, she enrolled in an English language class at the
Forest Hills Community House in Jackson Heights in January.

 

She started at level 3, and has since raised her English proficiency to
level 5, the top level, good enough to take classes toward a bachelor's
degree in human services. Last week she eloquently told more than 200 people
gathered at City Hall, most of them English-limited immigrants themselves,
what the class did for her. Before, it was hard to go to the hospital,
because she couldn't interact with the doctor. Nor could she communicate
with the people who lived around her.

 

"Now I can help my children with their homework," she said. "I can interact
with my community. My life is changed."

 

It was an unusually large turnout for a City Hall news conference. But, as
Margie McHugh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition,
explained, it was a sign of how much interest there is in a problem many New
Yorkers know little about. That is, the huge gap that exists between the
number of New Yorkers who don't speak English well, and the number for whom
classes are available.

 

Ask American natives if immigrants should be able to speak English, and
they'll say yes with a palpable hint of indignation about those who can't.
So why aren't we doing more to make this possible? More than 1.5 million of
the city's residents don't speak English well, according to the Department
of City Planning. But only 56,000 are enrolled in English as a second
language classes, according to the New York Immigration Coalition, made up
of 160 groups that provide services to immigrants.

 

The point of the City Hall gathering was to say that current efforts to
teach English to the city's immigrants don't even come close to filling the
need. They're pushing for an increase in funds for the Immigrant
Opportunities Initiative, a program started by the City Council in 2001, now
funded at $2.8 million, which pays for English classes and legal services to
help immigrants become citizens and protect them from unscrupulous
employers. The coalition wants Mayor Michael Bloomberg to use part of the
city's projected $3-billion surplus for next year to increase the funding to
$10 million. It seems like a small amount, given the pressing need.

 

English language classes for adults are provided by the Department of
Education, non-profit community groups, the City University and the public
libraries, with city, state and federal money. But state funding has been
flat for years, and the Bush administration has proposed a 65 percent cut in
adult education funds for next year. The only new money has come through the
Immigrant Opportunities Initiative, and it's far too small, advocates say.

 

"A hundred years ago, our grandparents had these services," said Nancy
Wackstein, of the United Neighborhood Houses, whose settlement houses and
community centers offer immigrants English classes and legal services.
"There's no reason immigrants shouldn't have these services today."

 

There doesn't seem to be any villains here, although I'm inclined to wonder
why, at the same time that he's proposing giving amnesty to thousands of
immigrants who're living here illegally, President Bush wants to cut adult
literacy programs. There's no better anti-poverty program for immigrants
than teaching them English, so they can get a high school or college
education, interact in society, get work and, like Garrido, escape from a
desperate situation.

 

Mayor Bloomberg's proposed budget for next year includes an extra $1.8
million for a literacy initiative for immigrant families. But Gloria Garrido
and the others who gathered at City Hall last week feel the mayor should dig
deeper. I'm inclined to agree. 

 

Copyright (c) 2005, Newsday, Inc. 

 

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This article originally appeared at:
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-opmcc064292840jun06,0,1546534

.column?coll=ny-ny-columnists 

 

Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com <http://www.newsday.com/> 

 

Nell Eckersley

ESOL Program Director

Edith and Carl Marks

Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst

7802 Bay Parkway

Brooklyn, NY 11214

718.331.6800 ex 20

fax 718.232.8461

 <mailto:nell at jchb.org> nell at jchb.org

 <http://www.jchb.org/> http://www.jchb.org/

 

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