The House last week approved a measure that would provide up to $50 million annually over the next three years to high schools and community colleges for the improvement of foreign-language instruction.
The proposed “foreign-language assistance for national security act,” which was introduced in the House last year by Representative Paul Simon, Democrat of Illinois, passed by a 265-to-120 vote.
Under the proposal, states would be eligible to receive grants totaling $50,000 plus 4 cents per state resident for the development of model foreign-language programs at the precollegiate level. State community- and junior-college language programs would be funded at $30,000 plus 1 cent per state resident.
The legislation also authorizes the Secretary of Education to establish foreign-language summer institutes in each of the 10 federal regions for 1,500 exceptional high-school students.
Colleges and universities would be invited to apply for grants from the Education Department to run the institutes.
Similarly, the bill authorizes the Secretary to establish an equal number of summer training institutes for elementary- and secondary-school teachers of foreign languages.
A companion measure has been introduced in the Senate by Daniel P. Moynihan, Democrat of New York.
