A Legacy of Legislative Achievement and a
Master Connector of people to build progress By Amanda Seewald, M.Ed.
Two years ago, I was offered the unique and exciting
opportunity to take my language advocacy and
professional board work to another level. FLENJ asked me
to attend the Joint National Committee for Languages/
National Council for Languages and International Studies
(JNCL-NCLIS) annual Legislative Day in Washington, DC.
As a teacher, business owner, federal scholarship
recipient, mother, and multilingual citizen, I relished
the chance to be a part of this advocacy process in a
more “hands-on” way.
What I didn’t know, was that the people I would meet
and the experiences ahead would have a profound effect
on me and bring me both back to my roots as a language
learner and forward to my new and thrilling role as an
active legislative advocate for language learning.
JNCL-NCLIS Legislative Day is a unique and truly
eye-opening experience for language educators involved
with professional organizations across the country. We
have the opportunity to go to Capitol Hill and meet with
legislators and their staff members to advocate for
language education policy. While JNCL-NCLIS works all
year to ensure that language policy is clearly on the
agendas of pivotal political players, legislative day is
truly the best way for our profession to take ownership
by seeing firsthand the process of passionately
advocating for our states, our schools, and our students
to have the education they deserve. JNCL-NCLIS has
provided this chance for its members for many years and
surrounds it with invaluable meetings, speakers, and
training opportunities that empower language educators
to pave the way and truly make a hands-on difference in
their states.
During my first experience at JNCL-NCLIS Legislative Day
I immediately saw just how much can happen in Washington
when groups of voices are heard. J. David Edwards,
Executive Director of JNCL-NCLIS, had invited
Representative Rush Holt of New Jersey to speak to
representatives from language associations around the
country. His words and actions inspired all of us. My
colleague, Ana Lomba, and I had the distinct pleasure of
joining Representative Holt for a once in a lifetime
opportunity to hear the President of Mexico speak before
a joint session of Congress. Words fail to describe the
sense of true honor, humility, and awe I felt during and
following this experience.
“As a resident of the USA for many years and a
relatively new citizen (2007), I marvel at the American
democratic system with such a vibrant dialogue between
regular folks and the politicians that govern. It is
amazing to see the time, energy, and passion that many
advocates demonstrate, but it is even more amazing to me
that American politicians actually listen and actively
engage in the dialogue. The JNCL-NCLIS summit is a
phenomenal experience that I will always remember and
treasure.” Ana Lomba, Owner, Ana Lomba Early Languages
LLC
Inspirational is the perfect word to describe the time I
have spent working with JNCL-NCLIS and more specifically
soaking up as much knowledge and guidance as possible
from Dave’s trove of experience. JNCL-NCLIS has grown to
be an incredible organization that fosters
multilingualism and gives language educators a platform
for advocacy. The backbone of this essential connection
to our legislative bodies is J. David Edwards, whose
leadership and knowledge are only matched by his uncanny
ability to perceive, react, and liaise with people
everywhere he goes.
Dave is the real catalyst for the creation and
development of the JNCL-NCLIS model we know today. His
vision to work in collaboration with educators and
legislators to build possibilities and open
conversations on the topic of language education for the
last 31 years has truly changed our aptitude to build
meaningful relationships in our federal government.
“Dave has built his reputation for advocacy and
support for the foreign language field “the old
fashioned way.” He has EARNED it, not as a hired-gun (of
which there are many now), but through collaboration
with a field and by building strategic coalitions across
key organizations in the field to get the key players in
the associations and the leaders of field talking among
themselves, identifying, and often times actually
AGREEING among themselves about shared national
priorities. For any educational or academic field,
socialization is important and valuable. For effective
advocacy on the Hill and across the executive branch and
on the level of the state legislatures, the ability to
make common cause is ESSENTIAL.” Dr. Dan Davidson,
President, American Councils for International Education
This year, after decades of prolific discussion,
advocacy, testimony, mentoring, and connection building,
Dave will be leaving his post as the Executive Director
of JNCL-NCLIS. In my opinion, the stories he has shared,
the pathways he has forged, and the way he has taught
educators to engage our voices and educate our
legislators are invaluable. Dave, who is a doctor of
political science and a true expert on the way
government works, has a passion for the field of world
language education. He truly treasures each piece of
work or policy development.
“I look at FLAP as my 24 year old son and they are
starving him right now and they killed him or they’re
trying to kill him. They’re starving him right now, is
what they’re doing. They’re not giving him a damn thing
to eat. And with the reauthorization process, they may
actually kill him.” Dr. J.David Edwards, Executive
Director, JNCL-NCLIS.
Dave is, for all intents and purposes, the
institutional memory of not only JNCL-NCLIS, but of all
of the political and legislative progress in language
education. He is the repository of knowledge of the
challenges and relationships that have helped put our
profession on the national stage. Recently Dave has been
honored by the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages, The National Language Museum, and The
Language Flagship Program. His impact on our profession
is immeasurable as it has shaped our ability to relate
to the political world in Washington, DC in a meaningful
and effective way. I have been privileged to learn from
him.
“What Dave developed was a commitment to consensus. He
accepts that we will almost always disagree on at least
some points, but that we can always find common ground.
He trusts that those who must compromise on one issue
will see their views prevail in another. Dave’s vision
of and for JNCL/NCLIS offers a collegial and pragmatic
ideal that turns the zero-sum approach on its head: in
his vision, none of us can win if any one of us loses.”
Becky Kline, Executive Director, Northeast Conference on
the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
I recently sat down with Dave to reflect on the past,
present, and future of language education policy and
advocacy. In just a few hours, Dave imparted more than I
could have imagined. His inspiring vision of a bilingual
future comes through in his words, which speak for
themselves.
Amanda: What were the biggest
organizational challenges back when JNCL first started
and how do they compare to challenges you face now?
Dave: The biggest challenge then was
there was nothing. That was also the huge advantage.
Anything we got was an addition. The only thing we had
was what was left, the bones and the dregs and the
crumbs from the National Defense Education Act, which
Lyndon Johnson had changed in ’64 when he turned it into
the Higher Education Act and the elementary and
secondary education schooling, at least turned that into
essential two different pieces, elementary and
secondary, we got nothing for languages. And it was the
thinking in the country right then among our people as
well, very much among our people, that this was a high
school subject; that you did it for four years in high
school and that was language training, and then if you
were serious about academics, you maybe did it for two
years in college.
And that was what language was all about – I as an
outsider, I came in seeing an awful lot of this stuff
looking at it and thinking, you know it’s unbelievably
stupid, except for one thing. It’s probably good
education theory. They’re treating language not as a
tool; they’re treating language as a learning tool. And
that’s six years of learning. And that was probably the
time this field most recognized language for its
cognitive contribution and its contribution to a
discipline, and as a discipline to the learning process.
We have since turned it into a tool.
Amanda: How did having nothing work to
your advantage and how do you compare that to now?
Dave: Anything I did was plus. Now, we
have been the best we’ve ever been. Two years ago, we
were on a high we’ve never been close to before. If we
had gotten that one piece in the partnership bill
(FLEPP) that would actually do articulation from
elementary through secondary into the university
programs at the Flagship level into the graduate
programs, we could literally build a seamless language
program K-16 in this country where people would come out
as threes and fours.
Amanda: And what didn’t we get there?
What is missing?
Dave: We didn’t get the middle. We
didn’t get the articulation piece. But that’s minor.
What we’re doing now is tearing it all apart. Once
FLAP’s gone then we’ve lost the whole K piece, K-12
piece essentially. So we’re now back to higher education
only … And that’s what we’re doing now. The difference
now is I look at FLAP as my 24-year-old son, which is
exactly the age of my son. And they killed him or
they’re trying to kill him. They’re starving him right
now, is what they’re doing. They’re not giving him a
damn thing to eat. And with the reauthorization process,
they may actually kill him. And that’s a huge piece.
Amanda: What was the most important
legislative accomplishment made during your tenure as
Executive Director of JNCL-NCLIS and why?
Dave: The most important one was FLAP.
The most significant one was the National Security
Education Program. And the difference I think is, that
FLAP took the federal government into an area where it
was willing to go historically only with Lyndon
Johnson’s Great Society and the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act. Prior to that, the federal government
cared about education only to the degree of the G.I.
Bill and Brown vs. Board of Education, which is where
the federal government has always cared. It’s always
been, on the part of the federal government, questions
of equality and access. And that’s what the feds do. The
change with Lyndon Johnson was he actually said that
access and equality is also a school issue.
Taking languages and creating an elementary program
that the federal government ran, not only created
opportunities that were not there before, but when the
standards were developed, we were talking about quality.
And we actually had federal programs that talked about
excellence in education and excellence as a federal
provision. We sailed through it (the legislative
approval process) swimmingly partially because we had
some really good people, like June Philips and Christie
Brown. And we had some very shrewd political people.
FLAP laid a very important building block that the
language community had to have that no one else, except
perhaps math needed. That is the need to start it early.
And frankly, until FLAP came along, I don’t think a
majority, but a significant number of the language
community did not think it needed to be done at the
elementary and secondary level.
Amanda: Why is NSEP the most
significant?
Dave: NSEP is the most significant
program because it was truly a program that addressed
the major national need. NSEP was born out of Operation
Desert Storm. Senator Boren was chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee. He held closed door hearings
with Colin Powell and Schwarzkopf. And what came out of
all those hearings was a meeting with about three or
four of us in education saying, “you know we really need
to do a better job with international education”. The
guy who called the meeting was Boren’s chief of staff
for the Intelligence Committee.
The idea that came up was, let’s try and do some serious
stuff at the level where we can do it. That was focused
on higher education because the assumption was that in
higher education you could do higher-level language
skills more quickly and we didn’t have the time to put
them through the process. The trick was recognizing the
best way to do this is to do it “in country”.
Amanda: What are the missing pieces or what is the
one thing that you wish you could have done?
Dave: The single piece I wish I had for the field was –
until two years ago when it started falling apart and
then last year when Title VI was gutted and FLAP was
essentially eliminated in terms of funding – we needed
one piece to make the entire federal commitment form a
complete thing, and that was HR 1966, it was the FLEPP,
Foreign Language Education Partnership Program and it
was when we were writing that legislation and I worked
very closely with Miriam Kazanjian and the Higher
Education Community on that bill, which was a major
accomplishment too and we had never cooperated that
closely on legislation.
What we were doing was building the pipeline. And we
were within a single bill, a single vote of Congress of
having a program in the United States at the federal
level that started in kindergarten and went the whole
way through graduate school.
Amanda: Who are the most essential
political or nonpolitical figures whose support have
made or facilitated a difference and who are the people
you see as the most important to our initiatives going
forward?
Dave: Two of them came off the
President’s Commission of Foreign Language and
International Studies when they were very young,
first-term members of the House of Representatives; Paul
Simon, and Leon Panetta. Both of them devoted their
lives to this issue in a very meaningful fashion.
Leon as chairman of the Budget Committee had a much
bigger picture. Leon as “Leon” went on to become Chief
of Staff for a President, went on to become head of the
CIA, went on to become Secretary of Defense because he’s
always had the big picture.
If you talk to me about the other people who are
supporters and made a difference, Senator Simon as
Senator, Senator Dodd as a Peace Corps member, who
actually as chairman of the Latin-America subcommittee
conducted meetings in Spanish and was proud of his
Spanish. He knew how to cut deals and get things done.
Senator Simon, who I loved dearly, was much more the
idealistic, this is good for the world, and we all want
to do this.
They were a very good combination of things. Add to
that, a conservative Republican, Thad Cochran, and
you’ve got a very powerful combination there. Because he
was a Republican on the Appropriations Committee who
championed language.
You know the interesting thing is that as I thought
about it, it’s all senators. I can put in Claiborne
Pell. I can put in Akaka. I can put in any number of
other senators and not many House members. Why? Senators
have a much bigger view. They represent an entire state.
They are much more likely to have a global view. The
Senate is the group that advises and consents. The
Senate is much more likely to be able to see the
importance of foreign languages than are members of
Congress who aren’t Sam Farr representing DLI and Rush
Holt who’s brilliant.
If you want to talk about who going forward, Panetta is
going forward in a real position of power and I don’t
worry about the future of languages too much because
they will be protected in the area where they are most
important, National Security.
And Holt is the guy going forward. Rush Holt,
unquestionably, because he cares about this. He’s smart.
It’s on his agenda.
Amanda: You mentioned all the political
people, but what about people within the profession?
Dave: One stands out above all others
and that’s Dr. James E. Alatis. He came up a
second-generation Greek kid from West Virginia. Jim
started JNCL. He stood astride this field at the
beginning of this field like a colossus. He was the guy
who came to Washington to go to work for the Office of
Education under the National Defense Education Act doing
the less commonly taught languages, supporting us.
He was the first president of JNCL-NCLIS. And part of
how Jim was so able to accomplish so much was that he
had a foot in every field. And he was a brilliant,
absolute brilliant consensus builder. He was the right
person at the right time. But he was also a person of
tremendous ability. He had that strength that good
people have. The Rockefellers and the people who were
strong in the past had an uncanny ability to recognize
talent and use it. And Jim had a phenomenal ability to
recognize talent and use it.
Amanda: If you could share your advice
with current and future advocates for how to move
forward and see a multi-lingual future for all U.S.
students, what would you say?
Dave: That is it’s going to change.
It’s going to change very radically and very
differently. And 20 years from now we’re going to be
sitting somewhere very different than we are now, in
terms of languages in the world. Multilingualism, if you
read Larry Summer’s article in the New York Times, it’s
got everybody all so upset. He said languages aren’t
necessary. He’s wrong. He’s wrong. But he had the right
assumption. He simply drew the wrong conclusion. The
world’s going to keep getting smaller and smaller and
smaller. And global is going to get more and more
common.
What does that mean for language? If we keep doing
traditional education in this country or if we don’t do
traditional education in this country, I think language
is still absolutely key to cognitive development and to
learning.
I think all of our efforts won’t begin to compare with
companies running ads in other languages more and more
and more frequently; with parents realizing that they
aren’t going to be able to make them all learn English
and that they’re going to have to learn a couple words
in Spanish and maybe even whole sentences and a whole
ability to communicate, but that language is going to
become this major polyglot. I think for you, as an
advocate there’s no question this is important, and it’s
so important that it’s going to happen. Now, what does
the advocate want to do with that? Make it happen
intelligently.
J. David Edwards holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and
his journey to ultimately becoming the JNCL-NCLIS
Executive Director is fascinating and filled with
fantastic stories of experiences that shaped his way of
working in Washington, DC and within the field of
language education advocacy. Below are some of Dave’s
insightful words as well as links to some additional
pieces of these stories as told by Dave:
J. David Edwards
“It (NSEP) was literally, why I went into this
business … thinking that if people could communicate,
you can save lives.”
“It was Panetta who really latched onto it and there was
a woman named Cindy Cisneros on this staff. And she was
an absolute godsend. If you find the right staff person,
it just makes all the difference…”
Learning a foreign language can be beneficial to
young people as they make their way through school and
join the workforce. Our national security and
international commerce profit as more Americans become
proficient in languages beyond English. I commend groups
like the Joint National Committee for Languages and the
National Council for Languages and International
Studies, led by leaders like David Edwards, that
diligently promote foreign language education.”
Senator Thad Cochran, Mississippi
“Dave Edwards is a walking encyclopedia of how
Washington has managed – at times, mismanaged –
education policy for decades. He isn’t merely “old
school”; he built the old school. I feel lucky to have
been introduced to him recently as he is the
quintessential throwback, an unparalleled storyteller
who has been my tour guide through a different era in
lawmaking, politics and the sausage-like process of
crafting legislation.” Jim Geraghty, Contributing
Editor, National Review
“The language profession owes you a debt of
gratitude. While you claim not to be “one of us” you are
indeed “one of us” as you have been able to represent us
so expertly over these many years.” Dave McAlpine
and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign
Languages
“When we were looking for an Executive Director, and
Dave Edwards’ name came up for discussion, everyone was
quite convinced that Dave would be the right man for the
job. The one concern we all had was that he was a
political scientist, not a language professional. But
Dave put all of these doubts to rest through pure
performance and his unifying mentality, and he soon
developed a passion for the importance of the language
professions.” Dr. James E. Alatis, Dean Emeritus,
School of Languages and Linguistics, Georgetown
University
Two years ago, I was offered the unique and exciting
opportunity to take my language advocacy and
professional board work to another level. FLENJ asked me
to attend the Joint National Committee for Languages/
National Council for Languages and International Studies
(JNCL-NCLIS) annual Legislative Day in Washington, DC.
As a teacher, business owner, federal scholarship
recipient, mother, and multilingual citizen, I relished
the chance to be a part of this advocacy process in a
more “hands-on” way.
Dave is the real catalyst for the creation and
development of the JNCL-NCLIS model we know today. His
vision to work in collaboration with educators and
legislators to build possibilities and open
conversations on the topic of language education for the
last 31 years has truly changed our aptitude to build
meaningful relationships in our federal government.
“What Dave developed was a commitment to consensus. He
accepts that we will almost always disagree on at least
some points, but that we can always find common ground.
He trusts that those who must compromise on one issue
will see their views prevail in another. Dave’s vision
of and for JNCL/NCLIS offers a collegial and pragmatic
ideal that turns the zero-sum approach on its head: in
his vision, none of us can win if any one of us loses.”
Becky Kline, Executive Director, Northeast Conference on
the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
