Portland Public Schools is seeking to spend over $200,000 in federal funds on hiring four English language teachers who will serve as interpreters for “new arrivals” in the school district.
The proposed allocation of the funds, a total of $223,918, comes as part of a federal grant through the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Portland Schools is looking to use a portion of the grant money to fund the hiring of four full-time Language Acquisition Ed Techs, whom the district says “will serve as interpreters and provide cultural/linguistic support for students during the school day to assist them with transitions to the American school system, specific classroom procedures, and social-emotional awareness.”
“[The Ed Techs] will help new arrivals with classroom procedures and expectations, orientation to new technologies and platforms, and school routines,” the district wrote in their proposal. “They will help lower the affective filter and anxiety levels of new arrivals by having an adult with the same language and/or cultural background.”
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