Providence elementary school teachers chafe at language-certification mandate

PROVIDENCE — Providence elementary teachers said they were dismayed when they were notified Friday that they had to enroll in a program to teach English language learners or else risk being moved to another job.

But the requirement isn’t new. It began two years ago.

The drive for certification is in direct response to a scathing report from the Justice Department, which found rampant deficiencies in the way the Providence schools educated its English-language learners. The district later signed an agreement with the department promising that every student learning English receive at least one period taught by an English as a Second Language certified teacher.

What worries teachers, however, is that they may be moved to another position in another school if they don’t get the certification.  

And school spokeswoman Laura Hart confirmed that if the teachers identified by the district don’t enroll in the certification program, “they may become displaced from their current positions next year. Displaced teachers will be assigned to open positions in the district prior to the start of the school year.” 

In conversations with multiple teachers Monday, they said that the district should be paying for this program or embedding the training in their yearly professional training.

“I’ve been here 27 years,” said Melissa Palumbo. “My daughter is going to college in the fall. How can I afford to pay tuition and work on an ELL certification? I agree that this certification is a great thing. But my husband and I (he is also a teacher) can’t afford it.”

Providence school spokeswoman Laura Hart said the district last year identified about 100 elementary teachers who needed to get certified. This year, about 50 must get it.

The Providence Teachers Union, which is embroiled in a protracted contract dispute with state education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green, said teachers have been asking for a less onerous pathway to certification.

“They ambushed teachers with the news that their positions have been switched from regular education to English language learners,” said union vice-president Jeremy Sencer. “Some teachers have a few years left before retirement. Are they going to invest thousands of dollars in this new certification?” 

“We want every teacher to get certified,” Sencer said. “We just think we could do it through internal professional development.”

Special-education teachers said they typically work in the same classroom as the regular education teacher, who has or is getting ELL certified. They also questioned why they have to get the additional certification when they have only a couple of English language learners in their caseloads.

Hart said the state Department of Education is trying to ease the burden on teachers. Four local colleges have agreed to reduce the cost of tuition and provide up to $3,200 in tuition reimbursement. 

The goal is to train 125 teachers over the next couple of years to meet the needs of a rapidly growing multilingual student population, where about a third of students are English language learners. As part of the state’s turnaround plan for the district, Providence has set a goal of getting more than half of its teachers ELL-certified by 2025.

“Ultimately, we have to be responsive to our students and our families,” she said. “We’re working with teachers to rescue the cost of tuition and help with reimbursement.” 

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Linda Borg covers education for the Journal.