Res. No. 579

Resolution calling on the New York City Department of Education to ensure that the New York State Seal of Biliteracy is awarded in all New York City public high schools to eligible students.

By Council Members Dinowitz, Louis, Hanif, Hudson, Riley, Lee, Rivera, Cabán, Gennaro, Brewer, Joseph and Narcisse

Whereas, According to the Endangered Language Alliance, over 700 languages and dialects are spoken in New York City (NYC) and the nearby metropolitan area, with 38 percent of those languages from Asia, 24 percent from Africa, 19 percent from Europe, 16 percent from the Americas, and the remaining from Oceania and the Pacific; and

Whereas, Building trust and understanding across the many language and cultural groups in NYC’s diverse communities often calls for multilingual communication skills; and

Whereas, Multilingual communication skills are also a critical element in enabling NYC to participate effectively in a global political, social, and economic context; and

Whereas, Mastery of two or more world languages also makes an important contribution to students’ cognitive development, understanding of diverse cultures, and preparation for future college study and career opportunities in NYC and worldwide; and

Whereas, Students who have significant skills in two or more world languages, including students whose first language is not English and students whose skills are in underrepresented languages, should be recognized and rewarded academically; and

Whereas, According to a study by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, credentialing bilingualism more broadly than what is available now has the potential to level some of the inequities that exist between commonly taught and less commonly taught languages; and

Whereas, The New York State Education Department (NYSED) states that the New York State Seal of Biliteracy (NYSSB), established by the New York State Legislature in 2012, “recognizes high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in the three modes of communication (Interpretive, Interpersonal, Presentational) in English and one or more world languages”; and

Whereas, The NYSSB affirms the value of diversity, honors the multiple cultures and languages of New York communities, and supports the importance of underrepresented languages, while it furthers college and career success for high school graduates; and

Whereas, A 2013 University of California at Los Angeles survey of California employers found that 66 percent of employers “would prefer a bilingual employee over a monolingual English speaker if they were comparable in other respects,” while from 67 to 92 percent of employers, depending on the field of employment, felt that holders of the California State Seal of Biliteracy would “have an advantage in hiring”; and

Whereas, The NYSSB does not limit the languages for which the Seal can be awarded, thus making it possible to support students from underrepresented communities, including indigenous communities, whose language proficiency cannot be demonstrated through commercially available standardized tests; and

Whereas, In 2021-2022, 62 NYC Department of Education (NYCDOE) schools offered the NYSSB, with 25 percent of the high schools in Staten Island, 21 percent of those in Queens, 10 percent of those in Brooklyn, 10 percent of those in the Bronx, and 7 percent of those in Manhattan offering the credential; and

Whereas, In 2021-2022, 1,043 students graduating from NYCDOE high schools earned the NYSSB in 31 different languages-Albanian, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bambara, Bangla, Bosnian, Burmese, Dutch, French, Fulani, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Igbo, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Krio, Latin, Mandarin, Mandinka, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Soninke, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, and Yoruba; and

Whereas, In 2021-2022, of the 1,043 students graduating from NYCDOE high schools and earning the NYSSB, 400 were from Queens, 294 from Brooklyn, 184 from the Bronx, 140 from Manhattan, and 25 from Staten Island; and

Whereas, Many colleges provide only a few ways for students to earn foreign language credits based on prior learning, such as by scoring well on a College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Exam, which costs students as much as $97 and is offered in just seven world languages; and

Whereas, The NYSSB provides an additional way for incoming freshmen to earn foreign language credits in any world language and is free to NYCDOE high school students, with testing and other costs borne by the NYCDOE and the NYSED; and

Whereas, The NYSSB provides both colleges and employers with an established and credible credential to use in identifying and rewarding high school graduates with biliteracy skills; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the New York City Department of Education to ensure that the New York State Seal of Biliteracy is awarded in all New York City public high schools to eligible students.

LS #12722

4/18/2023

RHP