hISTORY OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION
Through out the history of the United States, Bilingual Education has experienced periods of high and low acceptance. There have been various events, state laws, federal laws and court cases regarding Bilingual Education in the United States. The following timeline provides some of the most significant dates in the history of bilingual education.
1839, oHIO
· Ohio was the first state to authorize a bilingual education law, which allowed students to be enrolled in a German-English classroom. Such event led to many other states to pass laws concerning bilingual education.
1907, President Theodore Roosevelt
· In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt gave a powerful speech concerning immigrants and their native: “Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag ... and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language” (Gryphon). Such powerful statement did not have favorable effects on the Bilingual program. Such anti-immigrant culture, including language, slowed down the acceptance of the program in the United States.
1918, WORLD WAR I
· World War I resulted in profound anti-immigrant sentiments in the United States. Such effect led to a prolonged rejection against any type of Education program that included any other language that was not English. As Gryphon states in his article, “fears about the loyalty of non-English speakers in general, and of German Americans in particular, prompted a majority of states to enact English-only instruction laws designed to 'Americanize' these groups.”
1968, bilingual Education Act
· In 1968, in the middle of the civil rights movement, the Bilingual Education Act, or Title VII, was passed by Congress and made into a Federal Law. The Bilingual Education Act stated that federal funding would be given to schools in order to encourage them to use native-language along with English. Title VII was the “first federal recognition that LESA (limited Eglish speaking ability) students have special educational needs and that in the interest of equal educational opportunity, bilingual programs that address those needs should be federally funded” (Soltero-Gonzalez).
2002, English language acquisition
Unfortunately, in 2002 the Bilingual Education act came to an end when the English Language Acquisition Act was passed as a part of No Child Left Behind Act, which stated that “bilingual education will now be determined on a State level, meaning an end to Federal funding” (Soltero-Gonzalez). The English Language Acquisition Act states that it holds “State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools accountable for increases in English proficiency and core academic content knowledge of limited English proficient children. Schools were now required to demonstrate the improvements of “limited English proficient children, including immigrant children and youth” through their performance on standardized tests (Soltero-Gonzalez).
An important characteristic of the No Child Left Behind Act was that LEP students were only allowed to be in in the Bilingual program three years, and after the three years students were required to be placed in a English-only classroom, “regardless of the student’s English speaking ability" (Soltero-Gonzalez).
An important characteristic of the No Child Left Behind Act was that LEP students were only allowed to be in in the Bilingual program three years, and after the three years students were required to be placed in a English-only classroom, “regardless of the student’s English speaking ability" (Soltero-Gonzalez).
Aspira vs. Board of education
The Aspira of New York vs. Board of Education was a significant accomplishment in the History of Bilingual Education in New York. The following article found in Latino Vote Magazine further explains what led the Aspira Organization go to court with the Board of Education. One of Aspira’s arguments that was declared in court was that having non-English speaking students in English-only classrooms was like having “deaf children sitting in a classroom and not getting any help whatsoever” (Rodriguez).
In 1972, Aspira, an organization working for the development of the Latino youth filed a lawsuit against the department of Education of New York. The lawsuit urged the court to order the establishment of a school program for English learners.
The Managing Program Director of the Apira organization, Raymond Figueroa, was interviewed and he explained that “It was a class action lawsuit, it had to do with discrimination against language minorities and in this case the denial of equal education opportunity as a result of their language status”.
Back then the state didn’t offer programs for non-English speakers. Aspira felt these children were being ignored and approached the Latino Justice PRLDEF for representation. The President of the Latino Justice PRLDEL, Cesar Perales, further explained, “the reality is that it grows out of the fact that children were totally ignored. This was one of the arguments said in court, this was like having deaf children sitting in a classroom and not getting any help whatsoever”.
The lawsuit resulted in the Aspira consent decree, which mandated the school system to implement bilingual education techniques to affectively instruct k-12 students in New York. This decree secured the right for non-English speakers to obtain bilingual education while also opening doors for many bilingual teachers, who were hired to meet the needs of the growing immigrant population.
In 1972, Aspira, an organization working for the development of the Latino youth filed a lawsuit against the department of Education of New York. The lawsuit urged the court to order the establishment of a school program for English learners.
The Managing Program Director of the Apira organization, Raymond Figueroa, was interviewed and he explained that “It was a class action lawsuit, it had to do with discrimination against language minorities and in this case the denial of equal education opportunity as a result of their language status”.
Back then the state didn’t offer programs for non-English speakers. Aspira felt these children were being ignored and approached the Latino Justice PRLDEF for representation. The President of the Latino Justice PRLDEL, Cesar Perales, further explained, “the reality is that it grows out of the fact that children were totally ignored. This was one of the arguments said in court, this was like having deaf children sitting in a classroom and not getting any help whatsoever”.
The lawsuit resulted in the Aspira consent decree, which mandated the school system to implement bilingual education techniques to affectively instruct k-12 students in New York. This decree secured the right for non-English speakers to obtain bilingual education while also opening doors for many bilingual teachers, who were hired to meet the needs of the growing immigrant population.
DISCLAIMER: Parts of this website are fictional and were creating for a class. Please email my instructor with questions: wcheney [at] luc [dot]edu.
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