Last month, the advocacy group Californians Together launched Multilingual Education for All (MLE4ALL), a new statewide campaign designed to expand access to multilingual education and strengthen pathways to bilingualism and biliteracy for students across California.
The Multilingual Education for All campaignis a long-term effort to ensure that multilingual education becomes a defining feature of California’s P–12 education system. Through policy advocacy, research, coalition-building, and public awareness, the campaign seeks to expand high-quality multilingual programs, including dual language programs, and ensure all students have the opportunity to develop bilingual and biliteracy skills.
“California is one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world, yet access to multilingual education remains uneven,” said Martha Hernández, executive director of Californians Together. “The Multilingual Education for All campaign is about building the conditions so that every student—regardless of background—has the opportunity to become bilingual and biliterate.”
The campaign builds on California’s growing momentum around multilingual education, including policies such as the California State Seal of Biliteracy, which recognizes high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in two or more languages.
Through MLE4ALL, Californians Together and its coalition partners will work to:
- Expand access to high-quality dual language and multilingual programs
- Support educators and school systems in implementing effective multilingual instruction
- Strengthen policies that promote biliteracy and multilingual pathways
- Elevate the voices and experiences of multilingual learners and communities
The campaign launched with a statewide webinar featuring educators, researchers, and policy leaders who discussed the benefits of bilingualism for students and the broader social and economic advantages for California.
Over the next decade, the campaign will partner with educators, policymakers, researchers, and community organizations to advance strategies that increase access to multilingual education from early childhood through high school.
To learn more about the Multilingual Education for All campaign and access campaign resources, visit mle4all.org