Insights and Analyses

• Encouraging multilingualism across California’s schools through the Seal of Biliteracy is important in leveraging students’ language assets to meet the rising demand for a multilingual workforce. To enhance this program, in October 2023, Governor Newsom signed into law the Biliteracy Advancement Act (AB 370) that makes the Seal of Biliteracy requirements more equitable and offers additional opportunities for students to earn the Seal. The law went into effect on January 1, 2024.

• Data from the California Department of Education for the 2022-2023 school year showed that 356 of the 421 school districts in California offered the State Seal of Biliteracy.

• According to public data from the California Department of Education, 45% of the students who earned the Seal of Biliteracy in 2022-23 were current or former English learners.

• During Fall of 2022, the California Department of Education collected English learner data for 108 language groups. About 93% of English learners spoke Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Russian, Farsi, Tagalog, Punjabi, or Korean.

• In 2021, 16% of English fluent high school graduates and 9% of English learner high school graduates across California earned a biliteracy seal.

• In 2021, Mono County ranked #1 among all counties in biliteracy seal attainment among all high school graduates, with 39% of high school graduates obtaining a biliteracy seal.

• In Fall 2022, over 2.3 million (about 40%) of students enrolled in California’s public schools spoke a language other than English at home. Rather than expending this as a challenge, the state has an opportunity to leverage languages other than English spoken at home as a valuable asset by helping students become literate in their home language.

• Since 2013, the number of biliteracy seals that have been issued has increased. To date, 521,649 seals of biliteracy have been awarded. Data over time from the California Department of Education shows an increase in the number of biliteracy seals awarded. In the 2012-2013 school year, 10,685 biliteracy seals were awarded and in the 2017-2018 school year, 55,214 biliteracy seals were awarded. In the 2022-2023 school year, that number had decreased to 59,782; however, during the 2024-2025 school year it is projected that 125,000 biliteracy seals will be awarded. Although the program continues to expand, 65 districts with high schools had yet to offer the biliteracy seal by the 2022-2023 school year.

• One barrier to supporting students to obtain the biliteracy seal is a shortage of bilingual teachers in the state. Data from the California Department of Education and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing showed a gap in the number of students living in a home where one of the top 10 languages spoken in California was spoken and teachers accredited to teach in those languages. The student-to-bilingual authorization (for authorizations issued from 2012-2013 through 2021-2022) ratio was highest for Punjabi, Farsi, Tagalog, Russian, and Arabic.

Global California 2030 is an initiative that aims to prepare students with the language skills to participate in the global economy and create a multilingual California.

Research suggests that bilingualism is an asset, pointing to benefits like meeting the demand for a multilingual workforce, economic benefits, and cognitive development. In 2016, Proposition 58 was approved by voters, removing barriers to implementing dual-language programs. Interest from California voters in these programs continued to grow since Proposition 58, which led to the creation of the Global California 2030 initiative. This initiative sets forth numerous goals to ensure a path to a multilingual state. For example, by 2030, Global California aims to enroll 50% of all K-12 students in programs that prepare them to be proficient in at least two languages. Moreover, by 2040, the goal is that 75% of students in K-12 become proficient in at least two languages to obtain a State Seal of Biliteracy. To meet these goals, the initiative also aims to significantly increase the number of bilingual instructors to 2,000 by 2030. Yet, obstacles to achieving the goals of the initiative persist such as the COVID-19 pandemic and teacher shortages. After they were forced to shift their priorities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021, schools began to re-visit their plans to expand bilingual programs. For example, EdSource’s article noted that while Los Angeles Unified School District was able to open its first dual immersion program in Japanese in 2021, the launch of a new Filipino dual immersion program in the district would have to be postponed due to the pandemic. In addition, advocates like Californians Together are calling for more investments to grow the bilingual teacher pipeline and address teacher shortages to ensure the goals of Global California can be met. To learn more about Global California 2030, read the California Department of Education’s report here. Read a fact sheet by the California Budget and Policy Center (CBPC) on the importance of supporting bilingualism here.