January / February Advocacy Report

for more information, contact Amanda Mendoza, KSWLA Advocacy Chair, KSWLAAdvocacyChair@gmail.com

There have been many changes at the federal level regarding education funding and where language education funding is housed. The Department of Education has been pieced out to other departments: Department of the Interior, Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Labor. To see where language education funding has landed, you can read this article. Unfortunately, these moves have also created lags and/or gaps in funding, which means that some language-related programs in Kansas will potentially cease to exist. Title VI funding is in jeopardy, which helps college students study abroad, the World Languages Fair and the STARTalk programs offered to teachers and students for free over the summer (from the University of Kansas) will most likely be eliminated. Now is the time to voice your concerns about language education–for the betterment of your own career and profession, but also for the betterment of your students.

If you would like to help KSWLA advocate for you, please let us know about your school or district’s language offerings by filling out this form.

KSWLA would like to invite you to participate in the advocacy work they will be doing in March with JNCL-NCLIS. JNCL-NCLIS (The Joint National Committee for Languages - National Council for Languages and International Studies) will host their Language Advocacy Days (LAD) in Washington, D.C. KSWLA will have a delegation of 4 advocates who will hold meetings with Kansas Representatives and Kansas Senators in order to amplify our members’ voices and push for continued funding for language programs, language teachers, and language students. The only cost involved is a FEW minutes of your time, but it will have a BIG impact on our congressional offices.

Please sign-up to join the KSWLA Raise Your Voice Letter-Writing Campaign and help us advocate for and with you!

If you are looking for a way to advocate close to home, as well, there is an amazing thing happening in March (and preparations have begun now!). Manie Musicale (for French teachers), Locura De Marzo (for Spanish teachers), and Mizik im März Madness (for German teachers) are revving up! These national and global March Madness-style music competitions are just what you need to insert some life and fun into your classes and not just survive the February/March/April slog, but thrive with activities, lessons, and units to introduce your students to new perspectives and new music from the TL world. There are lots of FREE resources to help get your students interested in music and spread their enjoyment with their friends. You can share the competition with your entire school: put up a bulletin board of the bracket in the hallway with QR codes to listen to the songs, blast each winning song on the intercom (with permission, of course!), have students create artist bios and post in the hallway with QR codes to hear the music, and so much more! Go to your language website for more information. If your language is not represented here, search your teacher groups or create your own competition. Participating in national and global events like these is a great way to elevate your programs and to increase the language connections between the language and your students.