Immigrant Education: Information on the Emergency Immigrant Education Act Program. Report to Congressional Committees.

The Emergency Immigrant Education Act of 1984 (EIEA) was enacted in response to the financial crisis facing school districts with large numbers of immigrant students, who generally have limited English proficiency. This report reviews programs funded by the EIEA and provides information for Congress to consider at the next program reauthorization deliberations. The review determined the following: (1) how school districts use EIEA funds; (2) how many districts have EIEA-eligible immigrant students but receive no EIEA funds; (3) how many EIEA students participate in other Federally funded education programs. Information was obtained by surveying 529 school districts that received EIEA funds during the 1989-90 school year and a sample of districts not receiving funds. To provide examples of how school districts use the funds, reviews were made of the programs administered by the school district with the most EIEA students in each of the five states receiving the most EIEA funds: Los Angeles (California), Dade County (Florida), Chicago (Illinois), Houston (Texas), and New York (New York). To qualify for EIEA funding, a school district must have at least 500 immigrant students or these students must represent at least three percent of its total enrollment. The report estimates that in 1989-90 700,000 immigrant students met the EIEA criteria, about 85 percent of whom were in school districts receiving EIEA funds. Less than one-third of EIEA students participated in the other Federally-funded programs reviewed. During 1989-90, about 80 percent of EIEA funds were used to pay for academic instructional programs. Ten tables and 10 appendices are included. (CJS)