Report - March 2010
An Action Agenda for ESOL
This concept paper written by the Center for an Urban Future and the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy includes eight recommendations for supporting and strengthening the state's English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs. The action agenda, which was endorsed by an unusual coalition of the state's leading business groups, immigrant advocates, literacy providers and workforce training professionals, calls on New York policymakers to guarantee level funding for state-run ESOL programs even in this difficult fiscal environment. It argues that supporting ESOL programs is increasingly important to New York's economic competitiveness since immigrants represent the fastest-growing part of the workforce in nearly every corner of the state.
by David Giles
