One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Want To Be A Bilingual Teacher In An Asian Language? There's A Scholarship For That
A student reads a book in Chinese during a second grade class at Broadway Elementary School in L.A.
(
Robyn Beck
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
Topline:
California has allocated $5 million to reducing a shortage of Asian bilingual language programs, with about half the funds going to teacher development. About 200 current and student teachers seeking credentialing in Asian languages are expected to benefit from the statewide program.
Who's eligible: The scholarships are for K-12 teachers and prospective teachers studying in the Cal State system. Teaching candidates are eligible for $20,000 scholarships. Current teachers could win a $2,200 scholarship or take required courses for free.
Where the money is coming from: In 2022, the state legislature, led by the then-head of the AAPI legislative caucus State Sen. Richard Pan, allocated $5 million to improve the pipeline of teachers who can teach dual-immersion Asian language programs.
Several languages are in demand: Vietnamese and Mandarin are the most-spoken languages in California after English and Spanish. Other popular Asian languages are Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, Hmong, Tagalog and Khmer.
What's the program called and who's running it? The California State University Asian Language Bilingual Teacher Education Program Consortium is being led by Cal State Fullerton’s College of Education.
There's a severe shortage of bilingual programs: Despite the large number of Californians who speak Asian languages, there are comparatively few bilingual K-12 programs to keep up with demand. Less than 10% of nearly 1,200 bilingual accreditations in the 2020-2021 school year were for Asian languages.
Sponsored message
Why this matters: Supporters of the program say these bilingual programs will not only broaden language skills but go a long way toward bridging cultural divides.
Go deeper: Lack Of Asian Language Teachers In California Leads To Demand For State Investment
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
