Rubio and Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Help School Districts Accommodate Students from Puerto Rico

Press Release

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) reintroduced the Ensuring Linguistic Excellence and Vocational Aptitude by Teaching English (ELEVATE) Act, a bicameral and bipartisan bill that would ensure states receive the federal funding necessary to provide high-quality instruction to students learning English. Specifically, this legislation would correct a flawed funding formula used by the U.S. Department of Education to allocate funds to states by fully capturing the number of K-12 students who relocate to the mainland from Puerto Rico. This bill would allow Puerto Rican students to be fully counted in the annual grant allocation received by states under the English Language Acquisition grant program. Correcting this flaw will be especially helpful to states like Florida and Connecticut, which have large and thriving Puerto Rican populations.

Between 2010 and 2017, Florida's Puerto Rican population rose from 864,000 to 1.1 million--a 27 percent increase. Connecticut's Puerto Rican population increased from 264,000 to 292,000--an 11 percent jump.

U.S. Representatives Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) reintroduced companion legislation in the House.

"By correcting this existing flaw, we are ensuring the U.S. Department of Education fully captures the number of K-12 students who relocate to a mainland state from Puerto Rico," Rubio said. "I am proud to reintroduce this bipartisan bill, which will allow Puerto Rican students to be fully counted in the annual grant allocation that states receive under the English Language Acquisition grant program and increase funding for Florida."

"Congress's failure to completely count newly arrived families from Puerto Rico in our funding formulas is unfair and ends up hurting students learning English in states like Connecticut," Murphy said. "The ELEVATE Act is an opportunity to right this wrong and make sure that English Language Learning programs are fully funded. As the son of a former English Language Learning teacher, I know how critical these programs are to student success, and I'm glad to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation to ensure all students have access to the high quality education they deserve."
"I will always do everything I can to support Puerto Rican families and make sure all students have the resources they need," Scott said.

"I'm proud to support the ELEVATE Act which ensures our schools have the federal resources needed to help English-learning students succeed and live their dreams."
"This common-sense bill would fix the flaw that vastly undercounts newly arriving Puerto Rican students and cuts off vital language-learning resources," Blumenthal said. "School language programs for K-12 students learning English are indispensable, setting them up for life-long success and opening new opportunities. I'm proud to cosponsor this bipartisan bill to get schools in Connecticut and across the country the funding they need to support kids learning English."

"As it is for so many Floridians, English is my second language. I grew up in a Vietnamese-speaking household and I was fortunate to learn English at school," Murphy said. "I'm proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation that will ensure Florida schools have the resources they need to help English-learners excel in the classroom and be better equipped to succeed in this country."

"I am proud to join my colleagues in reintroducing the ELEVATE Act," Congressman Díaz-Balart said. "This legislation revises the Department of Education's grant formula to ensure schools receive the necessary resources to provide high-quality English education to students who relocate from Puerto Rico, and whose primary language is Spanish. The ELEVATE Act is crucial for communities like Miami-Dade County, which receives the highest amount of English Language Acquisition funding in Florida. I thank Rep. Murphy and Senators Rubio, Murphy, and Blumenthal for their leadership on this important issue, and I look forward to enacting this permanent solution for the betterment of our students."