Currently, we have the opportunity to reinstate AP Italian for the 2010/2011 school year with the reduced requirement of $1.5 million in underwriting support for the first year of the continuance of the program. Clearly though, the funding is not the only issue in the failure of AP Italian. An effective plan must be developed to increase the number of schools and students that participate in the program. We are happy to report that the College Board has received exam orders that may result in an increase of an estimated 17% in the total number of students taking the examination on May 15, 2009. To sustain AP Italian in the future this annual increase must continue. That is why the ILF also sought and received the support of Italian language and cultural foundations in Italy to assist in this effort.
The initial stages of this collaboration have been the development of programs for teachers of Italian at the San Vigilio Foundation in Trentino, Italy and a new program being created by the Iaccoca Foundation in Benevento. We are grateful to these Foundations for developing these programs at their own expense. In addition, the ILF conducted workshops for Italian language teachers here in New York City in 2008 and in January 2009. The ILF also hosted the San Vigilio Foundation in January of 2009 to discuss study in Trentino at the home of the San Vigilio Foundation for teachers and students, the first of which will be in July of this year.
The Italian Language Foundation intends to pursue major donations from foundations, philanthropists, and governmental entities during the coming months while we seek funding that will lead to the reinstatement of the AP Italian Program.
Funds received by the ILF have been used to organize as a 501 (c) 3 federal not-for-profit foundation and to register separately as a not-for-profit entity in the states of the United States that require organizations to register their fundraising activities. Our only additional expenditures have included extensive legal costs relating to negotiations and contract preparations with The College Board and costs related to developing our website and public outreach regarding our mission.
The Foundation continues to be housed at the home of the Columbus Citizens Foundation free of charge and is served by volunteers who perform administrative work on a pro bono basis. The ongoing expenses we incur will be related to promoting the effort to restore AP Italian and website maintenance.
The ILF was formed for the specific effort of continuing the AP Italian Language and Culture Program of The College Board. We will not consider funding or grant requests for other Italian language efforts.
Our audited Dec 31, 2008 financial statement is available to anyone upon request to info@italianlanguagefoundation.org. In addition, a list of donors to the ILF follows at the end of this document (please see below).
We would like to express our deep gratitude to our partners, the Columbus Citizens Foundation, the National Italian American Foundation, UNICO National and the Order Sons of Italy. We would also like to thank the San Vigilio Foundation, the Iacocca Foundation, the Coccia Foundation, Kathleen Strozza, Mary Robinson, Beso Apparel, the Commission for Social Justice, and all of our other contributors for their support of AP Italian. And we extend a special thanks to our hardworking volunteers here in the United States and in Italy.
The Italian Language Foundation, Inc.
Annual Report
Year Ending December 31, 2008
The Italian Language Foundation (ILF) was established on July 3, 2008 in response to an urgent need – saving the College Board’s Advanced Placement Course in Italian Language and Culture, or AP Italian.
The Founding partners include the Columbus Citizens Foundation, the National Italian American Foundation, UNICO National and the Order Sons of Italy.
Last year ended with disappointing news. Our extensive efforts to help The College Board renew the AP Italian Language and Culture program did not succeed. During this emergency effort to save AP Italian, many foundations and individuals supported the efforts of the Italian Language Foundation on behalf of AP Italian.
Italian-America organizations viewed the dissemination of the Italian language and the financial support of AP Italian as an important part of their cultural mission. However these same organizations viewed the diffusion and instruction of the Italian language at the AP Italian level as an investment that would benefit the Republic of Italy, as well as the students who sought the opportunity to learn Italian.
Early in the process, it was made clear through discussions with all of the major Italian-America organizations that large contributions would be contingent upon the Republic of Italy standing shoulder to shoulder with Italian Americans in the effort to save AP Italian. The current economic climate, and budget considerations, affected everyone involved and obviously had a great impact on this effort. Though we expect all of the major Italian American organizations to continue their support for the renewal for the AP Italian and Culture Program, Italian governmental support remains a critical component of the effort to reinstate AP Italian.
President Margaret Cuomo and Chairman Louis Tallarini as well as former Governor Mario Cuomo and Matilda Cuomo have made several trips at their own expense to Italy. They met with representatives at the highest levels of both the national and regional governments. They will continue their dialogue with the representatives to save AP Italian, as well as conversations with major foundations, philanthropists and commercial enterprises.
The College Board will consider reestablishing the AP Italian Language and Culture program for the 2010-2011 school year if a definitive agreement is reached regarding funding for the first new year. The agreement will require funding in advance or a guarantee from the Republic of Italy for any unfunded payments. The original budget submitted to all parties by the College Board to extend the program for 10 years was $10,000,000. This budget assumed very low increases in student participation and the development of an internet scoring model for the examination. During the negotiations with the College Board the financial requirements for 2009 were reduced from $4.5 million to $1.5 million to continue AP Italian for the 2009/2010 school year and avoiding the need to create an internet scoring model for the first year of the new arrangement. Unfortunately the reduction of the College Board’s financial requirements came late in the fundraising process after organizations and governmental entities had already committed funding resources for 2009 resulting in the subsequent suspending of the Italian Language and Culture Course for the 2009/2010 school year.