PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Edmarie Quinones was a teacher in Puerto Rico where she taught in a Spanish-speaking classroom, but she’s frustrated that she can’t transfer that certification to Rhode Island.

“I honestly would have preferred that they take into consideration my certification and my years of work as a teacher in Puerto Rico, which is 20 years,” she said through a translator.

She said she wants to teach Spanish in a Spanish-speaking classroom in Rhode Island, but that would first require taking a certification test in English to teach English.

“That’s a little weird because now I’m able to teach English, but I don’t have the certification in Spanish,” Quinones said.

Quinones teaches at Nuestro Mundo Public Charter School in Providence. The dual-language immersion program brings together students from both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking backgrounds to learn both languages.

“We welcome students who don’t speak English and we see that as an asset,” Superintendent Danira Ortiz said, adding that only a handful of schools in the state offer the program.

According to a 2023 report from the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, one in eight Rhode Island students is a multilingual learner, a 63% jump since 2015.

But while districts across the state warn that there’s a multilingual teacher shortage, URI Professor Laura Hamman-Ortiz said there’s no scarcity of multilingual adults.

“A quarter of the population speaks a language other than English at home,” she said. “Which means we have a lot of working-age adults who have the potential to be bilingual teachers.”

Quinones passed her English certification test, and right now she can only teach in English-speaking classrooms. She said it was scary to take a timed test in her second language.

“How are you going to tell me that I am going to lose my job for not having a certification that I already have that I worked for, that I studied for?” she said. “I have many years of experience and you are going to limit me? Because I don’t pass an exam, I no longer have the job? How are we going to have more?”

Target 12 asked the Rhode Island Department of Education why teachers must pass an English certification test to teach in the state. Spokesperson Victor Morente pointed to state regulations , which require teachers to be competent in English.

He added there are also federal regulations that “… all teachers in any language instruction educational program for limited English proficient children that is, or will be, funded under this part are fluent in English and any other language used for instruction.”

Ortiz said offering certification tests in multiple languages wouldn’t lower the standard of education, but allow districts to bring in multilingual teachers at a time when there’s a critical need.

“If a teacher who is certified in her country can demonstrate that they’ve acquired the knowledge necessary, they should be allowed to take the test in Spanish,” she said. “Just like our students.”

Quinones eventually plans to get her dual-language certification to teach in Spanish, but that would first require her to take classes and another test.

“I like teaching,” she said. “I believe that education is the important foundation of a society and that is where our leaders come from, and I am truly interested in having my future leaders know Spanish and English.”

Providence State Representative David Morales said with the growing number of multilingual students in Rhode Island public schools, the state should look at multilingual adults as an opportunity.

“We have a ton of teachers who speak a ton of languages, but they’re not properly certified or they need an opportunity to go back to school to understand how you apply your multilingualism inside of a classroom,” Morales explained.

Morales said the cost of certification is an obstacle for some teachers. For example, tuition for the multilingual learner endorsement program at URI costs nearly $2,300.

For two years, Morales has been pushing for a scholarship fund to help cover those costs. However, efforts in both the House and Senate have failed.

“We have a responsibility to make sure all of our teachers who want to pursue are given the opportunity free of cost that would require us to coordinate with RIC and URI financial support,” he said.

According to House Speaker Joe Shekarchi, when it came to decisions about this year’s budget , they wanted to invest in multilingual programs that he said are already working.

“We didn’t want to try to initiate new programs, although we did do some of that,” he said. “For the most part, when we needed to look at what’s working at state government, those are the programs we wanted to fund, we look at also if we had a federal match.”

He said the new budget that took effect in July will provide an extra 20% in funding for each multilingual learner, compared to 15% last year.

Eighth grader Idelsa Garcia has been at Nuestro Mundo for three years. She said learning in English and Spanish has made her better at both languages.

“I can make friends who only know Spanish. I can make friends who only know English,” she said. “And then, I can meet like people who are stuck in the middle and then I can combine my two worlds.”

Kate Wilkinson ( kwilkinson@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook .

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