2009-21RESOLUTION N0.2009-21
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF AVENTURA, FLORIDA URGING THE FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO MAINTAIN
CURRENT TRAINING STANDARDS FOR READING
TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
(~~ELL") IN FLORIDA'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS; DIRECTING
THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS
RESOLUTION TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS;
PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING
FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami
Division, Case No. 90-1913 issued a Consent Decree in LULAC v. Florida Board of Education,
in 1990 calling for equal access to all education programs for ELL students, including a mandate
for ESOL Endorsement for all teachers of the English language to ELL students; and
WHEREAS, in 2007 and 2008, legislative efforts to weaken the training requirements
for reading teachers of ELL students failed, but a current administrative move by the Florida
Department of Education again threatens to reduce training requirements; and
WHEREAS, Section 1003.56, Florida Statutes, entitled "English language instruction for
limited English proficient students", is designed to develop students' mastery of the four
language skills, including listening, speaking, reading and writing, as rapidly as possible; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Aventura, Florida desires for all
children to read English, wants teachers to prepare them to read, and wants monitoring to ensure
compliance with the requirements stated in the Consent Decree, referenced above; and
WHEREAS, it makes no sense to withdraw support from children who are already
struggling; and
WHEREAS, not supporting appropriate training would violate the intent of the Consent
Decree; and
WHEREAS, at a time when we must strive to be as competitive as possible in the
quickly changing global economy, we cannot afford to lower the bar of expectations and training
for our highly qualified teachers; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission deems the maintenance of the continued training
standards for reading teachers of English Language Learners to be in the best interests of the
citizens and residents of the City of Aventura.
Resolution No.2009-21
Page 2
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF AVENTURA, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Recitals. That each of the above stated recitals are hereby confirmed and
adopted.
Section 2. The City Commission hereby urges the Florida Department of Education
to maintain current training standards for reading teachers of English Language Learners in
Florida's public schools.
Section 3. The City Clerk is hereby directed to send a copy of this resolution to the
Florida Department of Education.
Section 4. All resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith are hereby
repealed to the extent of such conflict.
Section 5. If any clause, section, other part or application of this resolution is held by
any court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, in part or application, it
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of this resolution.
Section 6. That this resolution shall become effective immediately upon adoption hereof.
The foregoing resolution was offered by Commissioner Joel, who moved its adoption. The
motion was seconded by Commissioner Weinberg, and upon being put to a vote, the vote was as
follows:
Commissioner Zev Auerbach yes
Commissioner Bob Diamond yes
Commissioner Billy Joel yes
Commissioner Michael Stern yes
Commissioner Luz Urbaez Weinberg yes
Vice Mayor Teri Holzberg yes
Mayor Susan Gottlieb yes
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Resolution No.2009-~
Page 3
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 14th day of April, 2009.
usan Gottlieb, Mayor
sa M. Soroka,
Clerk
Approved as to Form and Legal Sufficiency:
City Attorney