Happy New Year!
My tenure as the Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director with the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) is coming to an end, and I want to thank each and every one of you for making these past few years a remarkable experience.
I want you to know that serving our 5.3 million English learners has been an honor. I am beyond proud of the work that we have been able to do under Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona. His vision to amplify “Bilingualism as a Superpower” guided our work. Under the Biden and Harris Administration, we committed ourselves to improving educational outcomes and career opportunities for all students. For English learners, this meant that we saw them and their language assets. We saw their potential to be multilingual and multiliterate. We saw the value in multilingualism and as such promoted multilingual pathways for all students. We saw the importance of family engagement and the need to support a well-qualified teaching workforce.
On a personal note, I connected with the students that we served. My commitment to this work was personal because I experienced firsthand how education truly transformed my life over 30 years ago. When I first arrived in the U.S. as an undocumented student, not knowing a word of English, I had no idea that one day I would serve as Assistant Deputy Secretary for OELA. Attending public schools with committed educators allowed me to reach unimaginable heights. Educators welcomed me, guided me, and provided a safe place for me to be my authentic self, which meant love for my heritage culture and language. That is one of the reasons I became a bilingual educator myself.
As a teacher, I wanted students that looked like me to have positive experiences in their education journey and to DREAM big! English learners bring so much knowledge to our schools; we must keep uplifting their strengths. I am an English learner, an educator, an immigrant rights advocate, a Dreamer, and a union leader. It is all these identities that I brought to the work.
As a former National Professional Development (NPD) grantee, OELA transformed my educational career almost 10 years ago when I was a bilingual pre-K teacher in Austin, Texas. Who knew that I would lead OELA so many years later? Through the NPD program, I had the opportunity to receive my master’s degree in Bilingual Education at the University of Texas at Austin, which allowed me to grow professionally.
When I was asked to do this job, I understood the importance of the work, and I gathered all my skills to do the work. From day one, I knew I had to listen to our stakeholders, build relationships, and highlight evidence-based research practices to promote quality public education for our English learners.
Serving at the Department for the past four years, gave me the opportunity to visit 23 states and a multitude of schools. Doing school visits and meeting with students, educators, and stakeholders throughout the country was inspiring. I saw their unwavering commitment, intentional collaboration, bold leadership, high expectations and rigorous instruction. The pride displayed by their bilingual communities was heartfelt and contagious.
Bringing back the Title III to OELA after 15 years, was one of my most proud accomplishments because the Secretary delivered a promise he made to our stakeholders. Under my leadership, we were able to expand the number of staff serving the formula program and increase technical assistance.
We also celebrated that all 50 states and the District of Columbia offer students the opportunity to earn a Seal of Biliteracy—an award given by a school, district, or state that recognizes students who have achieved proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. To recognize this achievement, OELA hosted the first National Seal of Biliteracy Summit with close to 200 participants.
Through new federal investments, national convenings, stronger technical assistance, and development of resources, we engaged with the community. Resources that I am especially proud to highlight include the new English Learner Family Toolkit, updated Newcomer Toolkit, Dual Language Immersion Playbooks, and the translated versions of the Benefits of Multilingualism infographic in 10 languages. Without a doubt we have championed the message that multilingualism is a superpower.
To close educational opportunity gaps, increase students’ academic achievement, and prepare more young people for success in the global economy, the Department led a national movement to elevate the importance of multilingualism.
The Department’s effort under the leadership of Secretary Cardona has bolstered state and local efforts to protect English learners’ civil rights, funded professional development for more than 5,000 multilingual educators, and invested in Native languages. OELA granted 13 first-time NPD grants under the new “Grow Your Own” priority.
We also galvanized support for dual language instruction and high-quality opportunities for students to become bilingual and biliterate by increasing the number of webinars and the development of the multilingualism digital badge program.
I am humbled by the support that all of you provided me while at OELA. It is because of your partnership that we have been able to move forward, enabling us to serve our English learners. I also know that I worked with an amazing team, and I share a special thank you to the outstanding OELA career staff for their knowledge and expertise.
Thank you for your commitment and dedication to educational excellence for multilingual learners—our most precious assets—and to the future of our country.
Gracias de todo corazón,
Montserrat Garibay