City and state education officials announced Wednesday an agreement that would require the city to open 125 new bilingual education programs in the next three years without any extra state funding. NY1's Education reporter Lindsey Christ filed the following report.

Students who come to city schools hoping to learn English do not have a very good chance of learning enough in general, statistics show.

The city serves 165,000 students classified as English Language Learners, or ELLs. The Department of Education admits about 3,000 either are not getting any services at all or do not have a teacher with the right training.

Those are just two of the problems the state says the city needs to address. It gave the DOE a formal "corrective action plan" outlining all the required reforms on Wednesday, including opening 125 new bilingual programs over the next three years.

Advocates said it is about time.

"It's a great first step if it's put in place properly," said Gisela Alvarez of Advocates for Families and Children. "There is not doubt that these things need to be done."

State Education Commissioner John King told reporters Wednesday it was clear how poor the city's services in this area have been by just looking at how few ELL students are on track.

Only 42 percent of ELL students graduated last year, way behind city's overall rate of 61 percent. Just 7 percent of ELL students graduated with enough skills and knowledge to go to college.

But city education officials said those numbers have been moving in the right direction.

"With ELLs, it's been extremely difficult, and we have been working with the state and the state thought it was important that there was a corrective action plan in place and we agreed and I signed off," said Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott. "And that puts us on notice."

Ironically, one area the state says the city has failed is with parent choice. Expanding parents' options and opportunities to choose schools has been a hallmark of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's education reforms.

But with ELLs, parents are supposed to be able to chose between classes in English and classes that combine English with instruction in their native language. For many families, the city has not provided a choice.

The city has been out of compliance with many of these regulations for more than a decade.

Walcott said he is committed to fixing the situation, and the state education commissioner said he is committed to making sure he does.

If the city does not comply, all the state can really do is withhold education funds, and King said he would be willing to do that.