According to the dailymail.com, America’s bill for teaching Limited English Proficient (LEP) students in all years from Kindergarten through 12th grade, the final year of high school, is $78 billion. The amount is actually probably higher, since that figure comes from 2020, the most recent year figures are available. The site also reports that there are only 370,000 teachers in the country trained to teach and support LEP students, with a further 76,000 needed to meet projections over the next five years. And, like the rest of the world, the USA is experiencing a teacher shortage, to the point that some state-funded public schools have been forced to hire ‘teachers’ who have no more than a high-school diploma themselves.
While spending money on education can never be seen as a bad thing, what is a shame is that the system as it stands doesn’t seem to be working, as only a meagre 3% of these LEPs leave school with a proficient standard of English.
