Chicago enrolls more than 2,000 migrant children in its public schools but lacks bilingual services

The problem students are having with the language forced Chicago Public Schools to allocate an additional $15 million to bilingual instruction programs.

Published by

Rosana Rábago Sainz

2 de septiembre, 2023

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Chicago Public Schools has a problem. They have more than 2,000 migrant children in their district but they cannot communicate with them since they do not have bilingual services.

Several parents reported the situation to the Chicago Tribune. One of them is Eliany Piña who has a daughter named Hassly. She told the newspaper how her six-year-old daughter had gone to class on Monday but was turned away because the school did not have staff who spoke her language: "They didn’t have people who spoke Spanish, so they turned them away."

This makes several volunteers uncomfortable. One of them is Britt Hodgon. She works at the 2nd and 3rd District police stations and told the Tribune about the difficulties the children experience upon arrival:

Kids are showing up with rotting teeth and active fevers and malnutrition and they’re not receiving care here. And then on top of that, we’re now refusing them education and all of the things that come with that.

Chicago schools do not have bilingual staff

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) recently announced they were increasing funding for bilingual instruction by $15 million in its 2023-2024 budget. The money, CPS told the Tribune, will go toward hiring additional education staff members to teach English to migrant children.

However, this is not the case. The Emil G. Hirsch Metropolitan High School is an example of this. Zachary Goldstein, a volunteer at the 3rd district who lives in Woodlawn, told the newspaper that students are having a lot of problems because the school doesn't have staff who speak their language: "For most of the day, they will be on their own, using Google Translate." The school district acknowledged the issue, but assured in a statement collected by the Tribune, that the children have finally been able to register thanks to its staff as well as an interpreter.

Hirsch has identified the students are in need of English Learner services and is working with the District’s Talent Office to ensure staff are at Hirsch to provide services to new students this week.

Thousands of migrant children are registering in Chicago Public Schools, Breitbart says. This is due to the massive influx of illegal immigrants who have come to the sanctuary city in the last year. More than 13,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in Chicago since last summer.