Massachusetts lacks the resources to accommodate the demand of immigrants for adult English language programs, according to specialists in the field.
The issue of English education for undocumented immigrants has been thrust into the political limelight with a bill currently under debate in the U.S. Senate.
The bill would allow many undocumented immigrants the chance to obtain citizenship after waiting for a specified period, paying a fine and meeting certain English language and civics requirements.
"There's a large immigrant population here in the city of Boston, and in order for them to become productive citizens and to become self sufficient, they're going to need [to speak] English," said Patricia Hembrough, the director of the Adult Learner Program at Project Hope in Dorchester. "Presently there just are not enough resources to allow that to happen."
According to the Massachusetts Department of Education's (MDE) Web site, there are currently over 20,000 adults in Massachusetts waiting to access the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs funded by the MDE.
Anne Serino, the Administrator of the Adult and Community Services unit at the MDE, says that the Department's budget allows it to fund 87 community adult learning centers and 13 county houses of correction.
While the department receives approximately 10 million federal dollars and 27.3 million state dollars each year, she said, these funds are not enough.
There are almost as many people waiting for these services as there are receiving them, she said. "Unfortunately, we don't have enough resources for the demand."
Tufts sends volunteers to many local programs, but junior Irit Lockhart, a program co-coordinator of ESOL and Adult Literacy at the Leonard Carmichael Society, said that local organizations have not made her aware of the full scope of the problem.
"I haven't heard any complaints from community groups saying that they were severely lacking any volunteers," she said.
"Obviously with that kind of number, I'm greatly encouraged to look more into cooperation from those groups and really finding out what they could use from us," she said. "That's something that we'll definitely look into ... to make sure that somebody is really doing ... numbers research this summer."
According to Linda Hamilton-Korey, an ESOL instructor at the Jamaica Plains Community Center Adult Learning Program, the problem is not limited to funding, but also extends to organization.
The Jamaica Plains program meets nine hours per week, but despite the drive and commitment of her students, Hamilton-Korey said that it is often difficult for them to get involved.
"Most [participants] have full-time jobs and most of them have families, so for some of them even keeping up with nine hours a week is difficult," she said. "They do it, but they're exhausted."
For many immigrants, such programs are the only way that they can improve their status, Hamilton-Korey said. "When [students improve] their English, they are definitely able to improve their economic status and get better jobs," she said. "It's a direct correlation."
According to Michelle Fuentes of The Welcome Project, which is based in Somerville, many of the students have great potential but need access to English language programs in order to make use of it.
She said that while some students have poor literacy in general, others are very educated, but in a different language. "We have ... some people who have college degrees in their country but they have no language skills here," she said.
Within the programs, undocumented immigrants are generally accepted on a don't ask, don't tell basis.
"It's not necessary for adults to be documented in order to be in our program," said Hembrough.
According to Serino, the MDE asks the programs that it funds to try to get Social Security numbers from all people enrolled in classes.
The data collection, she said, helps the MDE to look into the effectiveness of these programs by tracking the impact that they have on participants in areas such as future employment.
"[We do] data matching in order to understand the impact of adult education on people's employment," she said.
However, participants are not required to provide numbers and people who choose not to disclose their Social Security numbers are not excluded from the programs.
"It's not required," Serino said. "We do ask people for Social Security numbers because we do some data matching, but it's not required."
Some programs have interpreted this requirement differently. According to one ESOL Program Coordinator, who asked that her name as well as that of her organization be kept anonymous because she feared reprisals against her students, the decision to have organizations ask for Social Security numbers created "a hue and cry in the adult [education] community."
"We encourage students to give us their Social Security numbers, but we don't require it," she said. "A lot of people don't like giving out their Social Security numbers."
The coordinator added that her program does not require the Social Security numbers, but that the program's goal is to get enough numbers voluntarily to make it appear that they are actively soliciting them.
"If we don't get enough Social Security numbers to make it look like we've been doing it ... then [the Department of Education] would say that clearly you haven't been asking the question, and you must ask the question," she said.
According to Serino, that program coordinator's fears are unfounded, as the Department of Education does not punish students for not reporting numbers. "There's no consequence assigned to someone not giving a number," she said.
Even though undocumented immigrants can enter programs, there is still debate as to whether or not the immigration bill should require literacy as a precondition for citizenship.
According to Mirna Merced, the Director of Adult Education at Centro Presente in Cambridge, citizenship tests already test for literacy. If applicants are not literate, "I don't see how they could pass tests or an interview," she said.
She feels that the best system would be more flexible than a blanket mandate, and that rules should be applied "depending on the age of the person and how long they've been in the country."
The proposed Senate bill also would also be likely to increase demand on English education programs, putting a strain on funding and resources.
"If the bill were to go through ... that would be great if while they're making that provision they are also allocating funds that would be distributed to programs and community agencies to do that work," Fuentes said. "That's not something that, as far as I'm aware, the bill speaks to."
The press office of Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has been active in pushing for a reform bill, could not be reached by press time to comment on whether or not the bill accounts for funding.
Hembrough said that all of the resources for increased efficiency do not need to come from government money. "The weight or responsibility for that doesn't necessarily have to fall on the state or federal government," she said.
Instead, businesses could do more to facilitate access to literacy programs for their employees. "The business community could partner with ABE programs in helping to provide English classes on site at the workplace," Hembrough said.
Another potential problem with the bill, according to Hamilton-Korey, is how it will define literacy.
"When the Senate bill says literacy ... I don't know what their definition of literacy is," she said, noting that the term technically refers to reading and writing skills, but is often used to refer to merely speaking proficiency.
According to Serino, if the bill were passed it would probably cause more people to try to register for classes.
"To add the pressure of mandated English would of course increase the pressure for more ESL (English as a Second Language) services," she said.
Even so, she said that the extra incentive might not be necessary "Without a legislative mandate to learn English there's already enough people to fill twice as many seats as we have."
Serino said that most immigrants realize that they need literacy in order to improve their status. "Most immigrants understand that in order to succeed they need to understand English," she said.
Merced, who came to the continental United States in 1988 from Puerto Rico, feels that even without governmental requirements, immigrants should still find a proper balance between their native culture and American culture.
"I want my child to have some of my culture but I also understand that there's a need for assimilation [and that] you have to be aware that you will come to the new country to learn a new way of life, so in that sense you need to make adjustments," she said.
Merced feels that most immigrants are able reach this balance. "I think it's desirable if you keep some of your culture and I think most immigrants do that," she said.
