Funders to Discuss How to Make ELLs a High Priority is the title of a post today from Mary Ann Zehr from Ed Week’s Learning The Language blog. She writes about an upcoming meeting of foundation grantmakers to discuss:

How can education grantmakers ensure that all schools and communities implement successful strategies to promote the success of these young people?

Last month, I wrote a post titled Here We Go Again: Private Foundations Have A Place (And Have To Be Kept In Their Place). It shared the frustrations I had during my twenty-year community organizing career, and my more recent concerns from what I’ve seen in the education field.

I think it’s great that funders want to put more of an emphasis on English Language Learners. However, from what I have seen from the agenda for their briefing, many of the concerns I voiced in my previous post may hold true for this initiative (the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which was a focus of that previous post, happens to be a funder of this special ELL briefing, too).

It does not appear that any K-12 teacher of English Language Learners will be speaking — though many foundation staff will be — and it also does not appear that any leaders of grassroots community organizations working on immigrant and/or education issues are on the agenda.

‘nuf said…