Welcome to the D.C. Language Access Coalition website!

Recently, Councilmember Schwartz issued a letter to D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray to inform him about the annual hearing on the status of the Language Access Act, as well as her desire to see that the District makes a more concerted effort to to follow through on the provisions of the Act in order to enable LEP/NEP residents to access essential public services and to become viable members of the community.

On Wednesday, September 24, 2008, D.C. Councilmember Carol Schwartz presided over the annual hearing regarding the status of language access in the District and to note progress made in improving implementation of the Language Access Act within city government agencies since last year. The hearing was held at the D.C. Council, and several provided oral testimony, including representatives from the Mayor's Office, Coalition members, and District residents.

Read more here.

On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia (OSSE)held a public hearing on parental involvement as it prepares to embark on its proposed five-year strategic plan. The D.C. Language Access Coalition was represented by Lead Education Organizer,Mauricio Lopez, who presented testimony at the hearing.

The National Language Access Advocates Network (N-LAAN) will be hosting their second annual conference on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel and Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The theme of this year's conference is "Beyond Meaningful Access." Click here for further conference and registration information.

The regional API newspaper, Asian Fortune, reported on the success of the DC Language Access Coalition's and the Latino Federation's community event in their August 8th issue. The paper has been serving the DC Metropolitan Area's API community since 1993. For further details click here to link to Asian Fortune.

El Pregonero, the Spanish-language newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington, recently published an article on the community event organized by the D.C. Language Access Coalition and the Latino Federation of Greater Washington. Click here to read the article in Spanish.

The D.C. Language Access Coalition and the D.C. Office of Human Rights are sponsoring a series of trainings for frontline staff members of organizations that work closely with immigrants. The purpose of the training is to raise awareness about the D.C. Language Access Act and the Language Access Complaint process. Over 16 organizations have signed up for the training. (Click here to see pictures).

The D.C. Language Access Coalition and the Latino Federation of Greater Washington are sponsoring "Celebrating Our Heritage, Respecting Our Language Rights", a community event to celebrate the diversity of the D.C. community while educating participants on language rights.

The Washington Post featured an article on grants awarded for education reform by the Collaborative for Education Organizing. Read more about our Education Organizing project here. Click here to read the whole article.

On June 17, 2008, the D.C. Language Access Coalition sent a letter (Click here to read) to the City Council expressing concern about the shortage of ESL programs in the District. The letter calls attention to the high percentage of immigrants who report English-language proficiency and the long waiting lists for ESL programs across the country as evidence of immigrants' overwhelming desire to learn English.