02.10.2017 | Chalkbeat New York | Advocates are not having the city’s argument. Current English Language Learners already graduate in such small percentages that any backslide is concerning, said Abja Midha, a project director at Advocates for Children. About 31 percent of the city’s ELL students graduated in 2016. “The fact that the graduation rate is going down, it’s an alarming trend,” Midha said. It’s tough for an ELL student to graduate, since students must pass an English Regents exam. But Midha said it is more than possible, since there is a safety-net provision that allows ELL students to pass the English Regents with a lower grade and have their other Regents exams translated. Read article