“Estas deficiencias afectan de manera desproporcionada a las comunidades de habla hispana, china, rusa, bengalí y árabe, y los estudiantes hispanohablantes representan el 67 por ciento de todos los estudiantes de inglés como segunda lengua”, afirmó la oficina del contralor. El departamento de educación de la ciudad de Nueva York disputa estas conclusiones.

Escena del primer día de colegio en Nueva York la semana pasada. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en inglés el 10 de septiembre. Traducido por Daniel Parra. Read the English version here.

La oficina del contralor de la ciudad de Nueva York, Brad Lander, encontró “deficiencias graves” en los servicios y programas para los estudiantes de inglés como segunda lengua en las escuelas públicas de la ciudad. 

Una auditoría publicada el lunes reveló que un “porcentaje significativo” de los estudiantes de inglés como segunda lengua (ELL por sus siglas en inglés) del sistema escolar no habían recibido los servicios a los que tienen derecho por ley, como los cursos obligatorios o un número mínimo de minutos de enseñanza e instrucción.

La auditoría también reveló que se les han negado otros servicios exigidos por ley, como ser identificados como ELL a través de la encuesta de Idioma del Hogar (Home Language Questionnaire), ser evaluados y clasificados a través de la test de identificación del inglés como lengua extranjera (New York State Identification Test for English Language Learners, NYSITELL por sus siglas en inglés), y recibir una educación bilingüe o acceder a un programa de inglés como nueva lengua.

“Estas deficiencias afectan de manera desproporcionada a las comunidades de habla hispana, china, rusa, bengalí y árabe, y los estudiantes de habla hispana representan el 67 por ciento de todos los ELL”, dijo la oficina del Contralor en un comunicado de prensa.

Desde la primavera de 2022, más de 237.000 inmigrantes han llegado a la ciudad de Nueva York, muchos de ellos procedentes de América Latina, y sus hijos han llenado las aulas de las escuelas públicas de la ciudad, que han acogido a 25.081 nuevos estudiantes ELL, lo que supone un aumento del 16.8 por ciento. Los estudiantes ELL representan el 19 por ciento del total de matriculados, según la oficina del Contralor. 

Muchos estudiantes migrantes también viven, o han vivido, en el sistema de refugios de la ciudad, que en julio albergaba a 8.496 familias migrantes con niños (aunque no todas esas familias tienen hijos en edad escolar). 

Después de que un estudiante se matricula por primera vez o se vuelve a matricular, las escuelas deben identificar a los estudiantes de inglés como segunda lengua y evaluar sus conocimientos en inglés. Si los estudiantes obtienen una puntuación inferior a “dominio competente” en la prueba estatal para estudiantes de inglés como segunda lengua (NYSITELL por sus siglas en inglés), se les considera estudiantes ELL y tienen derecho a recibir los servicios previstos en dicha normativa.

El reglamento del Comisionado del Departamento de Educación del estado de Nueva York, CR Part 154, se creó para garantizar que los estudiantes ELL no se queden atrás y alcancen los mismos objetivos y estándares educativos que los estudiantes que no son ELL. Esto significa que los padres o tutores deben ser informados sobre los conocimientos de inglés de sus hijos y las opciones de programas disponibles para ellos. 

Además, la CR Part 154 exige que todos los distritos escolares ofrezcan a los estudiantes ELL un programa de educación bilingüe o de inglés como nueva lengua (English as a New Language, ENL por sus siglas en inglés). Un programa bilingüe enseña a los alumnos en dos idiomas, su lengua materna y el inglés, para que alcancen la competencia en ambos, mientras que los programas ENL dan prioridad a la adquisición del inglés, con apoyo en la primera lengua del alumno. 

La auditoría reveló que el departamento de educación de la ciudad de Nueva York (NYCPS por sus siglas en inglés) no ofrecía los cursos requeridos, el número mínimo de minutos de enseñanza e instrucción ENL, ni el número mínimo de minutos de instrucción bilingüe a casi la mitad (48 por ciento) de los estudiantes encuestados en la auditoría (145 de 301). 

Cuando se le preguntó al respecto, el departamento refutó las conclusiones, afirmando que el informe incluía a estudiantes que habían estado matriculados menos de 10 días, lo que significaba que no podían ser identificados como ELL ni realizar el examen para evaluar sus habilidades.

La oficina del contralor hizo hincapié, en respuesta a las objeciones del NYCPS, en que los resultados de la auditoría se compartieron con el departamento en varias ocasiones y que los funcionarios no criticaron las cifras ni la metodología y tampoco solicitaron revisiones durante ese proceso.

Defensores de la educación se negaron a comentar si los datos son precisos o no, o si la oficina del contralor hizo un buen trabajo al revisarlos.

“Lo único de lo que puedo hablar es de nuestra experiencia en el terreno”, dijo Rita Rodríguez-Engberg, directora del Immigrant Students’ Rights Project de la organización sin ánimo de lucro Advocates for Children. “Vemos familias, a las que atendemos, a las que no se les prestan los servicios a tiempo, los estudiantes no son identificados a tiempo, y los padres nunca han sido invitados a la reunión obligatoria con padres a la que se supone que deben asistir”.

Escena del primer día de escuela en septiembre de 2022. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

NYCPS afirmó que cuenta con múltiples vías para garantizar la identificación y la asignación oportuna de los estudiantes ELL: formación impartida por el personal de apoyo a las políticas ELL de cada distrito; actualizaciones diarias y mensuales sobre los estudiantes elegibles enviadas a los superintendentes y al personal del distrito; así como ayuda adicional y visitas a las escuelas que no cumplen las normas.

El departamento afirmó que ya está cumpliendo con una de las recomendaciones del informe, que es mantener registros importantes sobre los estudiantes ELL, y está buscando nuevas formas de recopilar registros digitales en un nuevo sistema de información estudiantil que se está desarrollando. Estos registros incluyen la encuesta de idioma del hogar que determina si se habla un idioma distinto del inglés en el hogar, así como encuestas a los padres y formularios de acuerdo con el programa.

Los defensores se sorprendieron al saber que el 40 por ciento de los estudiantes incluidos en la muestra de la auditoría del contralor recibían clases de profesores que no tenían la titulación completa para enseñar a estudiantes ELL. 

“Lo que más me sorprendió fue que los profesores no estuvieran cualificados, porque eso es algo a lo que nosotros, como defensores, y por otra parte, los padres, no tenemos acceso a esa información”, dijo Rodríguez-Engberg.

Cuando se le preguntó al respecto, NYCPS no estuvo de acuerdo y afirmó que los cursos de inglés como nueva lengua suelen ser impartidos por un profesor de ENL y un profesor de la materia que se está estudiando. En el último año escolar, el 93 por ciento de los estudiantes ELL recibieron educación bilingüe o instrucción ENL por parte de un profesor certificado, según el departamento.

Los distritos escolares deben cumplir ciertos requisitos para ofrecer programas de educación bilingüe, pero también pueden solicitar una exención si no pueden hacerlo. Según la auditoría, durante el último año escolar, NYCPS solicitó 150 exenciones del programa de educación bilingüe.

“No me sorprende que las escuelas soliciten una exención para no crear un programa bilingüe, porque eso requiere organización, requiere un presupuesto, requiere contratar a un profesor bilingüe para poder impartir la clase. Y no estoy segura de que haya suficientes profesores en la ciudad de Nueva York para cubrir esa necesidad”, dijo Rodríguez-Engberg.

Entre los años escolares 2022 y 2024, la ciudad abrió 103 nuevos programas de educación bilingüe y se prevé 27 nuevos programas adicionales para el año escolar actual, según oficiales del NYCPS.

El NYCPS no dio detalles, pero afirmó que también está desarrollando nuevos programas para ayudar a los profesores que trabajan con alumnos que hablan “idiomas de baja incidencia”, que son idiomas hablados por menos del 5 por ciento de la población de estudiantes de inglés como segunda lengua en todo el estado (excluyendo el español y el chino). 

El NYCPS afirmó que ofrece más de 566 programas en varios idiomas, entre ellos árabe, bengalí, albanés y otros idiomas de baja incidencia, y aseguró que todos los niños, independientemente de su origen lingüístico, recibirán la instrucción y el apoyo necesarios para tener éxito en el aula.

“Mucho antes de la publicación del informe del auditor, ya habíamos puesto en marcha iniciativas estratégicas en todo el sistema para reforzar la enseñanza de idiomas, los indicadores de cumplimiento y garantizar la equidad en el acceso a una educación de mayor calidad”, afirmó un portavoz de NYCPS en un comunicado.

“Al ampliar la contratación de profesores de inglés como nueva lengua y de educación bilingüe, y al continuar con el crecimiento de nuestros programas de educación bilingüe, hemos tomado medidas para satisfacer las necesidades lingüísticas y académicas de todos los estudiantes”, añadió el portavoz.

Para ponerse en contacto con el reportero de esta noticia, escriba a Daniel@citylimits.org. Para ponerse en contacto con la editora, escriba a Jeanmarie@citylimits.org.

The post Contralor encuentra ‘deficiencias graves’ en servicios para estudiantes que reciben clases de inglés como segunda lengua appeared first on City Limits.

By CLAUDIA CIOBANU, Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — France said it’s deploying fighter jets to Poland and Britain announced fresh sanctions on Russia’s oil revenues and war machine Friday as European countries took steps to deter Moscow’s aggression after an incursion by Russian drones into Polish territory.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would deploy three advanced Rafale fighter jets to help protect Poland ’s airspace and NATO’ s eastern flank to fulfill a commitment to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Rafales will patrol alongside other NATO aircraft in a deployment that also will include munitions and personnel on the ground, the French Defense Ministry said.

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“The security of the European continent is our top priority. We will not yield to Russia’s growing intimidation,” Macron posted on X. He said the deployment was discussed with both NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland on Wednesday, prompting NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down and underlining long-held concerns about Russia’s three-year war in neighboring Ukraine expanding.

Russia said it did not target Poland and Moscow ally Belarus said were drones went astray because they were jammed, but European leaders have expressed certainty that the incursions were a deliberate provocation by Russia.

The new sanctions announced by Britain on Friday included bans on 70 vessels that the U.K. says are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that transports Russian oil in defiance of sanctions already in place. Some 30 individuals and companies — including Chinese and Turkey-based firms — also were sanctioned for their part in supplying Russia with electronics, chemicals, explosives and other weapons components.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen pledged expanded cooperation between the Danish and Ukrainian defense industries. Rasmussen said after talks with Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha that his country aims to increase its defense production in Ukraine and encourage more Ukrainian companies to set up shop in Denmark.

Britain stands with Kyiv

The new British sanctions came as British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper made her first trip to Kyiv on Friday after her appointment a week ago following a Cabinet shake-up by Starmer.

Cooper said her visit is a demonstration of solidarity with Ukraine, which she said has seen a massive increase in Russian drone attacks in recent months. In July, there was a tenfold increase over the same month last year, she said.

“The UK will not stand idly by as Putin continues his barbaric invasion of Ukraine,” Cooper said, noting what she said was the Russian president’s “complete disregard for sovereignty” by sending drones into NATO airspace.

“International action to increase economic pressure on Russia and to cut off critical cash flows which he desperately needs to pay for this illegal war is vital.”

Reflecting Britain’s support for Ukraine, Prince Harry made a surprise visit to Kyiv where he’s meeting with wounded service members on Friday.

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski was also visiting Kyiv on Friday. His Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha posted on X that the two officials would discuss “shared security, Ukraine’s EU and NATO accession, and pressure on Moscow.” Meanwhile, Poland’s Defense Ministry said it will work with Ukraine to train personnel on anti-drone defense.

Wary Europe takes stock

Wednesday’s multiple Russian drone strike on Polish soil has compelled NATO allies to take a closer look at the means at their disposal to counter any further threats.

A U.N. Security Council meeting called by Poland will begin later Friday to discuss the Russian drone incursions.

Also Friday, Russia stoked European unease as it launched a long-planned joint military exercise with Belarus aiming to showcase close defense ties between Moscow and Minsk, as well as Russia’s military might.

U.S.-led efforts to steer Moscow and Kyiv toward a peace settlement have so far failed to get traction.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said talks to end the war in Ukraine were currently on “pause” even though channels of communication between negotiators remain open.

“One cannot simply put on rose-tinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield lightning-fast results,” Peskov said. “The Russian side remains ready to follow the path of peaceful dialogue.”

Ukrainian drones strike Russian oil port

Russian air defenses downed 221 Ukrainian drones over more than a dozen Russian regions early Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The attack involved some of the highest numbers of drones reported by the Russian military, but there have been no reports of any significant damage.

A Ukrainian security official said drones struck Russia’s largest oil port on the Baltic Sea in Primorsk, including oil pumping stations conveying oil to the Ust-Luga port terminal.

The official said Primorsk is a key hub for Russia’s “shadow fleet” of sanction-busting tankers that earn Moscow approximately $15 billion annually.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss missions.

Meanwhile, Tusk, the Polish prime minister, dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the drone incursion into Poland may have been “a mistake.”

“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake,” Tusk wrote on X. “But it wasn’t. And we know it.”

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London; John Leicester in Paris; Ilia Novikov in Kyiv and Katie Marie Davis in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

When the Gophers football team played UCLA at Rose Bowl Stadium last October, more than 12,000 maroon-and-gold fans made a pilgrimage to Pasadena, Calif.

The appeal of Minnesota not having played in the Rose Bowl Game since 1962 and the U having few other marquee road games on that schedule — save for a visit to Michigan’s Big House in late September — brought them out in droves.

This season’s slate of road games, however, is the best, top-to-bottom collection of unique venues and non-traditional opponents in recent memory.

“It’s tremendous,” Gophers deputy Athletics Director Mike Wierzbicki told the Pioneer Press about the road schedule. “Fans are jacked.”

It starts Saturday with a trip to play the California Golden Bears in Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. Thousands are expected to make it to the Bay Area for the nonconference game. Cal will make a return trip to Minneapolis in September 2028.

Later this fall, the Gophers will play at Ohio State’s Horseshoe to open October and will close the month at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium, the site of the Hawkeyes’ invalid fair catch signal in 2023 that led to Minnesota ending an eight-game losing streak in the Floyd of Rosedale rivalry with a 12-10 win.

In November, the Gophers will make their first trip to Oregon’s Autzen Stadium in Eugene and the following week will play traditional Big Ten opponent Northwestern at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Wildcats are using the Cubs’ home ballpark part-time while construction is being done on a new $800 million Ryan Field in Evanston.

“Oregon, Cal and Northwestern at Wrigley have kind of a different luster to them,” Wierzbicki said. “… This is nothing against any competition. But even playing Northwestern in November is completely different at Wrigley Field. The energy and excitement.”

The appetizing slate of road games this year will likely mean there won’t be a spike in attendance for any one contest. Before UCLA last year, Gopher fans had turned out in big numbers in Boulder for the Colorado win in 2021, and to a lesser degree, Chapel Hill for the North Carolina loss in 2023.

The Gophers strong nonconference schedule and corresponding ho-hum home slate might have something to do with a dip in season tickets sold.  The U said non-student season ticket numbers have ticked down 23,592 in 2024 to 23,085 as of Sept. 5, according to a Pioneer Press data request. Student tickets nudged down, too, from 8,013 to 7,823.

Minnesota’s schedule of games in Minneapolis features a traditional slate of Big Ten opponents — Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan State, Purdue, Rutgers — and two smaller nonconference games in Buffalo and Northwestern State

The Pioneer Press heard one anecdote about a family of Gophers season-ticket holders who gave up their seats this fall based on the lackluster home schedule and conflicts with kid activities. That family is instead checking off a bucket list trip to a festive environment in the Southeastern Conference. But it still follows the Gophers.

“Everyone’s always got their different reasons, right?” Wierzbicki said. “When we look at that, if someone isn’t going to renew (season tickets), our conversation is always about, ‘Well, why?’ And if the answer is, ‘You know, moving out of town or life circumstances. Or, hey, I’m gonna focus on some road trips.’ (It’s) ‘Hey, we’re happy you’re still engaged.’ If somebody chooses not to renew and then disengages. That’s maybe a little bit more telling for us.”

Bucket list abroad?

When it comes to appealing road games, it’s hard to top a trip to Ireland. That’s where Big Ten teams Nebraska and Northwestern met in 2022, followed by Notre Dame and Navy in 2023, Georgia Tech and Florida State in 2024 and Iowa State and Kansas State this August.

Would the Gophers be interested in heading to Europe for a game? Wierzbicki deferred to AD Mark Coyle and Dusty Clements, the U’s executive deputy athletics director, on a definitive answer, but gave some perspective.

“With the financials of college athletics, you’ve got to find a way that you can maximize and monetize where you can with football,” Wierzbicki said.

Wierzbicki was alluding to the financial crunch of spending $20.5 million annually in revenue sharing to student-athletes. With that new expense, the Gophers have forecast a roughly $9 million budget shortfall for this fiscal year.

“For Minnesota, it’s fair to say, those types of destination games are great, but do you really want to give up a home game?” Wierzbicki said in reference to the revenue that is generated from those events. “Is there a way that you could try to do it without giving up a home game? Maximize revenue and create unique opportunities? I think those are win-wins across the board. For anyone looking at it, thinking, ‘Hey, we’d end up losing a home game at Huntington Bank Stadium.’ I think that’s just a harder conversation to have, both from a fan-base perspective, as well as the economics of it.”

Iowa State declined to give up a home game in Ames, but Kansas State was willing to do it, according to The Athletic.

Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck, whose team is 3-0 in West Coast games at the U, didn’t jump at the possibility last week.

“There would have to be a lot of things that line up,” Fleck said on his KFAN radio show on Sept. 2. “There are a lot of people that want to do that. I’m not saying we wouldn’t, but that is something that I would probably rather do to enjoy (on a vacation). (Teams) go out there like two days before. It’s great for all of you (fans), but to take players that far …  if you are getting out there like a week early and you are treating it like a bowl game, that is a little different.”

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The Board of Elections opted not to strike four housing and land use proposals from November’s general election ballot after the City Council claimed they were misleading voters.

The first day of early voting for New York City’s primary elections last June. In November, voters will be asked to choose their next mayor as well as weigh in on a series of housing-related Charter changes. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Four ballot measures aimed at speeding up affordable housing construction and eroding the City Council’s powers over land use will be on the ballot in November after they survived a Board of Elections vote that could have stripped them off the ballot.

After the City Council claimed that the questions were written to mislead voters about how the ballot measures would limit legislative authority on land use decisions, the Board of Elections voted unanimously Tuesday to keep the questions.

The ballot measures, which would alter the City’s Charter, include:

A “fast track” for affordable housing that skips Council review for projects in the 12 New York City neighborhoods building the least housing.

A review board made up of the mayor, Council speaker, and borough president that can override Council decisions on land use.

Cutting out City Council review of smaller housing projects across the city

Creating a centralized city map

It would have been an unprecedented move for the Board of Elections to disapprove a ballot measure on those grounds, though the City Council claimed that the 12-person body had the authority to do so.

The vote was a win for “Yes in My Backyard” YIMBY groups in the city, who cheered the ballot measures. They argue that making it easier to build housing will chip away at the city’s severe housing shortage, where just 1.4 percent of units are vacant. Several prominent politicians, like Comptroller Brad Lander and other housing experts, came out in support of the proposals.

Opponents in the City Council decried the Board’s Decision, calling attention to the Council’s work to approve more housing through rezonings in recent years: “To be crystal clear, our opposition is about preserving the public’s power to make development better, and housing more affordable, for everyday New Yorkers,” Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement.

Here’s what else happened in housing this week—

ICYMI, from City Limits:

Fewer than a third of the low-income New Yorkers facing eviction who qualify for free legal representation in housing court under the city’s landmark Right to Counsel program are actually getting those services, an Independent Budget Office analysis found—reigniting calls for lawmakers to better fund the initiative.

“The number one thing is we have to stick together as a people, right?” housing advocate and activist Charisma White said on the latest episode of the Hear our Voices podcast, which shares stories and resources about family homelessness. “If we don’t stick together, we won’t make it anywhere.”

Why are so many “affordable” apartments in New York City still so costly? That’s thanks to “a little-discussed federal bureaucratic mechanism called the High Housing Cost Adjustment,” argues architect and researcher Eddie Palka, who says the formula ends up “systematically excluding working New Yorkers from programs designed to help them.”

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

The City Council passed a bill that will require the city to regularly publish the number of vacant units in its supportive housing network, Gothamist reports.

City Council members are negotiating details of a plan to rezone downtown Jamaica, Queens, for more housing, as the proposal heads to a final vote soon, according to the Queens Daily Eagle.

Public hearings took place this week on casino plans pitched for Brooklyn and Queens, The City reports.

A new Political Action Committee plans to spend $3 million convincing New Yorkers to support the aforementioned housing ballot measures up for a vote this fall, according to the New York Times.

A residential building boom is underway in Downtown Brooklyn, the New York Post reports.

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org. Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post Land Use Will Be On the Ballot This Fall, and What Else Happened This Week in Housing appeared first on City Limits.