TWIN FALLS - The College of Southern Idaho's English as a Second Language program faces an uncertain number of people wanting to learn English every year.
Sometimes the college can accommodate the number of people wanting to take ESL classes. At other times, because of increased enrollment, it has to expand class locations or use waiting lists.
Future enrollment in the programs, and paying for a potential increase in attendance, looks even more uncertain with the controversial Immigration Reform Act that faces a crucial test vote this week in the U.S. Senate.
The bill in its current form would grant legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in America who, among other things, prove an understanding of English.
The heads of CSI's ESL program said they don't know what effect a passed bill would have on their enrollment because they don't know how many illegal immigrants live in the area.
About 1,200 people are enrolled in English language programs through the college's 14 sites.
The state program received about $2 million this year, which paid for about 7,000 students enrolled in the GED and ESL classes statewide, said Cheryl Engel, state coordinator for Adult Basic Education, which operates the college's ESL classes.
The ESL program at CSI is the largest in the Magic Valley, and many immigrant services direct people who want to learn English to the free classes. Some of the students are refugees and others are legal immigrants. The students' legal status isn't important to their participation; what is important is that they want to learn English, the heads of the program said.
Melissa Joelson, coordinator for CSI's ESL program, said she doesn't know how many illegal immigrants the program helps.
"There's no way to know," she said. "Maybe we're serving every undocumented person in the Magic Valley already."
Joelson and Marian Steel, head of CSI's Adult Basic Education program, said they are not sure if the bill would prompt more people to want to learn English.
"I really don't have a sense that all the people would rise up and come to these classes the day that some bill gets signed," Steel said.
Margie Gonzalez, executive director of the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs, said if the bill passes with the English requirements for legal status, she thinks adult programs will be bombarded with immigrants wanting to learn English. But the commission hasn't started looking at the reform bill in detail yet, she said.
If there is an influx of people wanting to learn English so that they can have legal status, Joelson said CSI's program is flexible enough to handle more students. She said they never know how many people will enroll, which forces the program to always be ready to add more locations and teachers or send students to other sites.
A larger concern is paying for more teachers and supplies if the bill passes. The bill doesn't specify how much money will go to ESL programs. Engel, who expects a higher enrollment if it passes, said the $2 million the state adult education program receives every year is dismal.
"If there's no funding to go along with this, then, well, we're already full and a lot of our places have waiting lists," Engel said.
Steel said she couldn't imagine the bill passing without extra support going to the ESL programs.
"Unfunded mandates to public schools are disastrous," she said.
Sid Smith, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said the senator approves of immigration reform but said the current bill needs more debate and amendments before it passes the Senate. Paying for ESL classes is among the details that need hashing out, he said.
Susan Wheel, spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said the bill still isn't complete and ESL classes are one of many things that have funding issues.
Without extra money, Steel said, the CSI program would start being "creative" about making the program work.
Joelson said they'd start looking for volunteer teachers.
Times-News staff writer Nick Coltrain can be reached at 735-3371 or at
ncoltrain@magicvalley.com.
