The Office of Bilingual Education (OBE) provides support to districts in developing and implementing educational programs for limited English proficient (LEP) students. Under the guidance of OBE-FLS, 567 districts and 88 Charter Schools (as of June 2009) implement educational programs and services for over 272,000 LEP/ELL students in our state. These students come from over 174 language backgrounds. Our website has current information on regulations, programs and funding for districts. Please contact us for additional information.
New York State LEP/ELL Demographics as of June 09
Understanding the Rapid Growth of LEP/ELLs in Long Island
A Statement of Policy and Proposed Action by the Board Of Regents:
(The University of the State of New York, August, 1972)
"The primary goal of the Regents in their bilingual education program is to provide equal educational opportunity for non-English speaking children through activities capitalizing on their proficiency in their native language and developing competence in English. The program affirms the importance of English and at the same time recognizes that the native language and culture of a child can play a major role in his education. There is no experiential substitute for the successful learning experiences gained by non-English speaking children who are permitted and encouraged to learn in their dominant language."