Memphis City Schools Receive Federal Grant Funding

Washington, DC – Memphis City Schools will receive $266, 025 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to develop foreign language skills among primary and secondary students during the 2010-2011 school year. The Local Educational Agency Grants Program will provide money to Memphis City Schools to promote foreign language exposure among Memphis youth.

“Foreign language development is lacking in the 9th District,” said Congressman Cohen. “Only five percent of Junior and Senior High School students enroll in advanced foreign language study in our district. It is important that our students have the opportunity to develop foreign language skills at an early age. This grant will provide that chance to Memphis students. Youth in the 9th District will develop foreign language skills at an early age, improving the probability of their foreign language retention.”

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Memphis in late August of 2009. He toured Whitehaven High School and met with students in a new Arabic language class. Duncan has maintained that more school choices will improve the U.S. education system’s lagging competitiveness.

Memphis City Schools will receive grant funding for Foreign Language Assistance Programs (FLAP) that is focused on two-way immersion in elementary schools in the subjects of Spanish, Latin and Arabic. Two-way immersion programs integrate language majority with language minority students for most of the day to promote bilingualism and literacy in addition to grade-level academic achievement for each student. Memphis will receive $266,025 for the period of June 1, 2010 through May 31, 2011 and the grant is anticipated to continue for a total of three years.

Memphis City Schools have proposed foreign language programs that expose first grade students to the minority language of their peers for most of the day. By the fourth grade, the teachers will teach using each language for equal time periods throughout the school day.

“I am excited that Memphis students will receive exposure to foreign language development at an early age,” said Congressman Cohen.