The National Association of Bilingual Educators’ (NABE) will honor Assemblymember Joe Coto this year at their 36th annual conference in San Jose on Friday, February 10, 2007.  Over 5,000 people attend this national conference dedicated to supporting the work of teachers, administrators, and parents of English Learners.

Coto will be honored for his work in the legislature to support the 1.6 million English Learners in the state. One of his key pieces of legislation, AB 2117, provided $20 million to initiate a three-year, best practices study of what works best in schools for English Learners. Over 25,000 students will be included in the study.  It includes a competitive grant process directed by a statewide advisory committee and administered by the California Department of Education.  The results of the study will be collected and substantiated as best practices in English Learner education.  The collected knowledge will be made available to all schools by the California Department of Education and used widely to create the best possible programs.   Another $25 million from the original AB 2117 has been enacted to create a high quality, multi-level English Learner professional development program for California’s teachers. 

Coto also authored AB 1195, a bill that requires all continuing medical education courses in California to include curricula on cultural and linguistic understanding.  This year he has initiated legislation that recognizes the importance of bilingualism and honors students who master 2 or more languages. Coto was honored by the recognition and complimented NABE on their efforts. The theme for this year’s NABE conference, “One Nation: Many Languages, Many Cultures in a Changing World,” is appropriate.  Nearly 47 million people – one out of six – speak a language other than English at home. In California, over 40% of the population speaks a different language at home.  “The NABE members recognize the importance of this changing demographic and the need for us to acknowledge and capitalize on our diversity, I thank them for their dedication to English Learners,” said Coto.

The Awards luncheon is scheduled for Friday, February 10, 2007 at noon at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose.