Advocacy in MASSACHUSETTS 

LEGISLATION

An Act Relative to the Training, Assessment, and Assignment of Qualified School Interpreters in Educational Settings (HD.1915/Rep. Cabral; SD 461/Sen. Crighton)

Creates standards and competencies for the training, hiring and use of interpreters in educational settings in order to provide limited English proficient (LEP) parents and students with competent interpretation services, as required by federal and state law. 

• Bill Summary and Fact Sheet
• Ask your state senator and state representative to support this bill. 
• The 2021 spending bill- known as "ARPA" included moneys for "the implementation of a statewide system for training, assessing, and determining the qualifications of bilingual individuals to serve as interpreters in school settings." DESE secured a vendor, the National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages (NAETISL), to develop three tiers of courses for interpreters and translators in alignment with the Task Force recommendations. DESE anticipates that these courses will be developed, piloted, and finalized by the summer of 2023 for implementation with statewide participants in the fall of 2023.

This bill would create robust pathways for diverse professionals and educators to enter the teaching profession and is sponsored by the two Joint Education Committee Chairs, Representative Alice Peisch and Senator Jason Lewis. Latinos for Education and the Massachusetts Education Diversity Coalition are advocating for transforming this educator pipeline. 

An Act Expanding Opportunities to Demonstrate Academic Achievement (S.293/H.612)

• MABE Written Testimony September 2021