How Schools Can Set Up International Students for Success
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Byron W. Brown, the mayor of Buffalo, New York, says his community is not a "sanctuary city," but a "refugee resettlement city."
According to a February 2016 report published by the city, “Between 2006 and 2013, the foreign-born population in Buffalo increased by 95 percent, and the most recent American Community Survey reports that the city is home to over 22,000 foreign-born residents.”
The influx of refugees and immigrants over the last decade reflects the city's pro-immigrant stance, and has also made the Buffalo Public School System the most language diverse in the state. In fact, Buffalo is home to more language diversity than New York City — there are seven top languages in Buffalo schools, and more than 80 different languages in all.
About 18 percent of public school students in Buffalo are English language learners, and with languages as diverse as Arabic, Somali, Burmese and Swahili spoken on campuses, the school district has embraced multilingual education and employs special cultural resource specialists to help integrate students and their families.
Nadia Nashir, the assistant superintendent of multilingual education for the Buffalo Public School District, says educators have an obligation to tackle diversity head on.
