State agency awards grant to schools with immigrant students

This grant is awarded to schools with new immigrants, it will help a great deal with their summer programs and for assistants through the school year. DP

By AMY HETZNER

jsonline.com: Schools in Milwaukee and three suburban districts will share a state grant to help teach their growing immigrant communities, the state Department of Public Instruction announced Friday.

Milwaukee Public Schools is the largest recipient of the grant money, which is allocated through a competitive program under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The district is scheduled to receive nearly $144,000 of the $868,316 pot.

The Cedarburg, New Berlin and Shorewood school districts also are among the 14 school systems and two cooperative educational service agencies receiving funding, according to the department.

To qualify, school systems had to show they had at least a 25% increase in numbers of immigrant students over three years. Grants were distributed based on the number of eligible students in the district and the scope of the work proposed by the districts, department spokesman John Johnson said.

Schools with limited experience dealing with immigrant children received special consideration.

“The funds, in particular, benefit the education of students in Wisconsin schools who have been in the U.S. less than three years,” Johnson said. “Most of the students have been in the U.S. less than one year.”
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