Joseph asks DOE about language access for Seal
Joseph asks how DOE reaches parents and students whose first language is not English. Ryle says schools must create universal accessibility plans and Seal projects can be completed in home languages.
Thank you, Chair Denowitz.
Just want to do a couple of follow-ups from Chair Denowitz.
In terms of language access, how are we accessing parents who or students that English is not their first language?
So when schools are offering the seal of civic readiness, they have to create a program plan.
And one of the steps of that program plan is a universal accessibility plan.
So how are they going to ensure that the seal of civic readiness is available to all students?
Secondary to that, and we don't have many schools yet taking advantage of this, but it is something that we regularly meet with the team who runs the seal of biliteracy.
Students who do their seal of biliteracy project.
On a civics topic, that can be applied, we don't, you know, in any language, to the SEAL of civic readiness.
Also students'soapbox speeches, which is another project that they can do for the SEAL, those can also be done in home language as well.
How many people know that?
That's what we're working with the team with the seal of biliteracy to match up the schools that are doing both programs.
That's where we, Councilmember Brewer and I, we're talking, always people walking up to us and asking us these questions.
New York City public schools feel like this big black hole.
No one knows what's happening, but amazing things are happening, but no one never knows about it unless you come to a hearing or someone else talks about it.
Chair Dinowitz will talk about it.
So we got to do better.
And that's something I've been asking for a long time.
I think we got to do better.