Under New York State law, all English Language Learners (ELLs) have a right to the resources, services, and support they need to be able to achieve the same educational goals and meet the same standards as the monolingual student population. Many PAs/PTAs help provide parents with information and resources they need to understand their children's rights and to advocate for the services and support to which their children are entitled. An important part of language access is ensuring that interpretation services are provided at meetings and that documents for families are translated into other languages - from IEPs to health and enrollment forms. Because PA/PTAs are autonomous, Chancellor's Regulation A660 does not mandate that the DOE provide translation and interpretation services to PA/PTAs for meetings or communications. PA/PTAs can fundraise and budget to provide language access. Parent Coordinators can refer parent organizations to appropriate translation and interpretation vendors. However, principals can also use some of their Title III monies to support families whose primary language is not English. Just as Title I money provides for parental involvement, Title III can provide language access to families.
The resources below can be helpful to PTAs/PAs seeking more information on how to access translation services from the DOE, and for more resources and general support for Multilingual Learners/English Language Learners.
