The U.S. Department of Education today announced the award of more than $12.4 million in Foreign Language Assistance Program grants to local and state school systems in 24 states and the District of Columbia, aimed at promoting the instruction of foreign languages critical to national security.
The funds will be used in elementary and secondary schools to establish or expand programs of study in one or more critical foreign languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian and languages in the Indic, Iranian and Turkic language families.
“Communicating with our international neighbors not only promotes peaceful relations but also equips students for employment and to compete in the global marketplace,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “These grants will help strengthen both our national and economic security.”
Of the $12.4 million, more than $3.1 million will be awarded to a dozen local education agencies working in partnership with higher education institutions. This first-year support for these five-year grants is aimed at helping students as they progress through elementary and secondary school and then to college to attain a superior level of proficiency in different languages.
Another $8.7 million will serve as the first year of three-year grants to local education agencies, while the remaining $500,532 will be used for the initial year of three-year grants to state departments of education in Nebraska, Virginia and West Virginia.
In evaluating applications, the U.S. Education Department’s Office of English Language Acquisition considered whether the school systems showed the promise of continuing the programs beyond the grant period. Emphasis was also placed on projects that demonstrated approaches that could be duplicated by other local school systems.
For more information on the Foreign Language Assistance Program, see http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/funding.html.
Following is a list of the grant recipients, displayed by state, city, organization, local contact and the first-year funding amount.
Foreign Language Assistance Program Grants
U.S. Department of Education
Office of English Language Acquisition
September 2009
Local Education Agency-Institutions of Higher Education Partnership Grants ( 84.293A )
AK—Anchorage—Anchorage School District, Janice Gullickson, ( 907 ) 742-4848, Gullickson_Janice@ASD12.org, $257,106.
CA—Glendale—Glendale Unified School District, Joanna Junge, ( 818 ) 241-3111, Jjunge@GUSD.net, $300,000.
CA—Palos Verdes Estates—Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, Rosemary M. Claire, ( 310 ) 378-9966, ClaireR@PVPUSD.k12.ca.us, $297,665.
CA—San Francisco—San Francisco Unified School District, Margaret Peterson, ( 415 ) 355-7628, PetersonM@SFUSD.edu, $300,000.
CO—Aurora—Aurora Public Schools, Paul Coleman, ( 303 ) 340-0864, PAColeman@APS.k12.co.us, $294,899.
IL—Arlington Heights—Township High School District #214, Dr. Tina Campbell, ( 847 ) 718-4811, Tina.Cantrell@D214.org, $242,763.
KS—Girard—Southeast Kansas Education Service Center, Carol Woolbright, ( 620 ) 724-6281, Carol.Woolbright@Greenbush.org, $214,952.
KY—Lexington—Fayette County Public Schools, Dr. Kim Hooks, ( 859 ) 381-4329, Kim.Hooks@Fayette.Ky.Schools.us, $300,000.
MN—Hopkins—Hopkins Public Schools, Dr. Molly B. Wieland, ( 952 ) 988-4661, Molly_Wieland@Hopkins.k12.MN.us, $257,208.
MT—Missoula—Missoula County Public Schools District #1, Dr. Gail D. Becker, ( 406 ) 728-2400, Dbecker@MCPS,k12.MT.us, $162,204.
NC—Fayetteville—Cumberland County Schools, Paul Shambach, ( 910 ) 678-2474, PaulaS@ccs.k12.nc.us, $290,689.
OK—Tulsa—Independent School District No. 5 of Tulsa County, Debbie Burchfield, ( 918 ) 299-4415, Debbie.Burchfield@JenksPS.org, $251,219.
Local Education Agency Grants ( 84.293B )
AL—Montgomery—Montgomery County Public School System—Loveless Academic Magnet Program, Huey-Ling Lin, ( 334 ) 202-3287, feelinglin@aol.com, $212,574.
AZ—Phoenix—Deer Valley Unified School District—Gavilan Peak, Mai-Lon Wong, ( 602 ) 361-0291, mai-lon.wong@dvusd.org, $209,938.
CA—Glendale—Glendale Unified School District, Joanna Junge, ( 818 ) 241-3111, jjunge@gusd.net, $273,192.
CA—Hayward—Alameda County Office of Education, Rachelle DiStefano, ( 510 ) 670-4147, rdistefano@acoe.org, $300,000.
CA—Oak Park—Oak Park Unified School District, Clifford Moore, ( 818 ) 735-3200, cmoore@opusd.k12.ca.us, $86,815.
CA—Pasadena—Pasadena Unified School District, Kathy Onoye, ( 626 ) 396-3600, konoye@pusd.us, $291,255.
CA—Redding—Shasta Union High School District, Marylee Boales, ( 530 ) 225-8413, mboales@suhsd.net, $250,000.
CA—San Diego—San Diego County Superintendent of Schools, Leslie J. Hays, ( 858 ) 292-3758, lhayes@sdcoe.net, $295,821.
CA—Walnut Valley—Walnut Valley Unified School District, Linda Hansen, ( 909 ) 595-1261, lhansen@walnutvalley.k12.ca.us, $295,826.
DC—Washington—Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School, Mary K. Shaffner, ( 202 ) 635-1918, mary@washingtonyuying.org, $290,875.
FL—Sanford—Seminole County Public Schools, Minnie Cardona, ( 407 ) 320-0200, minnie_cardona@scps.k12.fl.us, $102,316.
IL—Chicago—Chicago Public School District #299, Robert A. Davis, Jr., ( 773 ) 553-1930, radavis@cps.k12.il.us, $298,395.
IL—Woodstock—Woodstock Community Unit School District 200, Monique McClurge, ( 815 ) 206-3078, mmcclurge@d200.mchenry.k12.il.us, $300,000.
KS—Clearwater—South Central Kansas Education Service Center, Kay Highbarger, ( 620 ) 584-3300, khighbarger@sckesc.org, $237,999.
MI—Dearborn—The Dearborn Academy, Waseem Younis, ( 313 ) 624-2000, wyounis@aimsus.com, $97,000.
MI—Grand Rapids—Forest Hills Public Schools, Linda VanderJagt, ( 616 ) 493-8806, lvanderj@fhps.us, $238,261.
MN—St. Paul—Yinghua Academy, Betsy Lueth, ( 651 ) 379-4112, betsy@yinghuaaacademy.org, $274,905.
NC—Charlotte—Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Ronald Glenn Byrum, ( 980 ) 343-2702, ronald.byrum@cms.k12.nc.org, $193,600.
NC—Fayetteville—Cumberland County Schools, Paula Shambach, ( 910 ) 678-2474, paulas@ccs.k12.nc.us, $266,367.
NJ—Englewood—Englewood Public School District, Elizabeth Willaum, ( 201 ) 862-6245, ewillaum@epsd.org, $269,870.
NY—Binghamton—Binghamton City School District, Margaret E. McGarry, ( 607 ) 762-8230, mcgarrym@binghamtonschools.org, $202,894.
NY—Blauvelt—South Orangetown Central Schools, Lynn M. Gorey, ( 845 ) 680-1017, lgorey@socsd.org, $261,029.
NY—New Hartford—Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES, Kenneth Ford, ( 315 ) 793-8502, kford@oneida-boces.org, $284,717.
NY—New Rochelle—City School District of New Rochelle, Diane C. Massimo, ( 914 ) 576-4206, dmassimo@newrochelle.k12.ny.us, $300,000.
OH—Cuyahoga Falls—Summit County Educational Service Center, David E. Jones, ( 330 ) 945-5600, davidj@cybersummit.org, $300,000.
OH—New Philadelphia—Tuscarawas Carroll Harrison Education Service Center, Michele Carlisle, ( 330 ) 308-9939, michele@tchesc.org, $291,564.
OH—University Heights—Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District—Roxboro Elementary School, Susan Pardee, ( 216 ) 397-3869, s_pardee@chuh.org, $177,746.
OK—Jenks—Tulsa County School District, Debbie Burchfield, ( 918 ) 299-4415, debbie.burchfield@jenksps.org, $299,966.
OR—Medford—Southern Oregon Education Service DistrictLearning, Jay Matheson, ( 541 ) 776-8565, jay_matheson@soesd.k12.or.us, $203,017.
OR—Portland—School District 1J Multnomah County, Susan Jordan, ( 503 ) 916-3447, sjordan@pps.k12.or.us, $292,005.
PA—Archbald—Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit, David L. Reese, ( 570 ) 876-9240, dreese@iu19.org, $200,000.
PA—Reading—Berks County Intermediate Unit, Bonnie Troxell, ( 610 ) 987-8422, bontro@berksiu.org, $297,078.
PA—State College—Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter Schools, Bulent Tarmen, ( 814 ) 237-9727, tarman@yscp.org, $192,355.
TX—Arlington—Arlington Independent School District, Cassandra Perez, ( 682 ) 867-7449, cperez1@aisd.net, $300,000.
TX—Houston—Cosmos Foundation Inc., Soner Tarim, ( 713 ) 343-3333, starim@harmonytx.org, $300,000.
VA—Henrico—Henrico County Public Schools, Heather I. Snyder, ( 804 ) 527-4618, hisnyder@henrico.k12.va.us, $52,771.
State Grants ( 84.293C )
WV—Charleston—West Virginia Department of Education, Robert Crawford, ( 304 ) 558-2691, rcrawford@access.k12.wv.us, $123,033.
NE—Lincoln—Nebraska Department of Education, Vickie L. Scow, ( 402 ) 471-4331, vickie.scow@nebraska.gov, $194,898.
VA—Richmond—Virginia Department of Education, Cathy Cheely, ( 804 ) 225-2972, cathy.cheely@doe.virginia.gov, $182,601.
