Teach Bilingual CA

The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education has been awarded a $625,000 grant for Bilingual Teacher Professional Development by the California Department of Education. Four school districts and four county offices of education throughout the state have received this grant award.

The grant goal is to increase the number of teachers adding a bilingual authorization to their teaching credential. Financial support through the grant will be available for teachers to complete their Bilingual Authorization. Ultimately this will get more teachers to return to bilingual and multilingual classes once the bilingual authorization is achieved.

Prop 58 repealed the English-only requirement that was voter-passed in 1998 and allows schools to design their own programs to meet the needs of English learners and student who want to learn in another language.

San Luis Obispo County Office of Education will be the hub for the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program Grant in partnership with Kern, Kings, Monterey, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. This multi-region, multi-county Consortium approach will assist in meeting the demands of rural, remote, and underserved portions of each county.

Currently, all five counties are experiencing shortages of teachers in hard to fill categories, such as teachers possessing a Bilingual Authorization teaching in bilingual classrooms. This shortage impacts all grade levels and subject areas as well as special education.

Any teachers who are bilingual and interesting in obtaining a Bilingual Authorization can complete this interest form. Cal Poly will be accepting applications for two cohorts of 20 each for the Fall of 2018. In addition to taking the classes, testing options for the authorization will be available as well. Please see the TeachBilingualCA.org website for more information about this grant opportunity!

Traci Theis, M.A.Ed., CCTO
Sr. Coordinator Ed Technology and TUPE
Educational Support Services Division
San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
ttheis@slocoe.org
805-782-7283