An alarming number of students who need extra help learning English are being let down by the city’s school system, according to advocates who want the state to intervene.
Fewer than one in four “English Language Learners” graduated on time in 2007, according to state data released last week.
The figures show that of the nine traditional high schools with on-time graduation rates under 40 percent last year, seven had more ELLs than the citywide high-school average of 12.3 percent.
Five had at least twice that figure.
Of the nearly $380 million in state funds given to schools for the upcoming school year, just $13.7 million is targeted specifically for ELLs.
“In New York City, we seem to be going in the wrong direction – much of it due to the fact that they’ve been dismantling bilingual programs as they break up the large high schools,” said Luis Reyes, coordinator of the Coalition for Educational Excellence for English Language Learners.