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American Indians
The federal government began sending American Indian children to boarding schools such as Carlisle Indian Industrial School. At these schools, American Indians were punished for and banned from using their home language and forced to speak English. When Europeans first arrived in what is now the United States, more than 300 different languages were spoken and today that number is less than 175. With many expected to become extinct because only elders are speaking that language. -
National Origins Act
A United States federal law that limited the annual numbers of non U.S. citizens who could immigrate into the United States. The law limited immigrants to 2% of the total number of people from that country who were already living in the United States. The law passed with minimal opposition in Congress and the acts goal was to “preserve the ideal of American homogeneity” -
Brown v. Board of Education
Until this court case, laws mandated separate public schools for black and white students. Brown v. Board of Education was A Supreme court case which ruled unanimously (9-0) that separating black and white students unconstitutional because “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” Many consider this case to be one of the first major victories in the civil rights movement and laid the groundwork for future victories. -
National Defense Education Act (NDEA)
This act increased federal funding for many programs because of the fear that the United States was falling behind the Soviet Union in math and science. Additionally, the Act provided federal help to foreign language scholars and provides financial assistance for many students who would be entering college and universities in the 1960s -
Bilingual Education Act (BEA)
BEA was the first federal mandate that recognized the needs of ESL students. Throughout the years, there have been many amendments and reauthorizations to improve and enhance the scope of BEA. Many court cases have cited BEA including but not limited to Lau v. Nichols in 1974, Castaneda v. Pickard in 1981 and Keyes v. School District No. 1. -
The May 25 Memorandum
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued a memorandum that stated “wherever there is an inability to speak or understand the English languages excludes national origin minority group children from an effective participation in their education offered by a school district, the district must bridge and rectify the deficiency” -
Lau v. Nichols
A civil rights case first brought in San Francisco, California by Chinese American ESL students. The students, who were not proficient in English, claimed that they should receive special help granted by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans educational discrimination. In 1974, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students, giving students without English proficiency a better opportunity to succeed. -
Equal Educational Opportunities Act
This federal law prohibits discrimination and racial segregation of students. This law also requires the schools and districts to make sure students get equal participation. The EEOA required states to give all students an equal educational opportunity. Much of the language in the law is vague which has led to many other cases most notably Lau v. Nichols and Castaneda v. Pickard. -
National Association for Bilingual Education
The creation of this advocacy took place in 1975 and one of their primary goals is to act as a voice for all ESL students and promote bilingual education. This is an advocacy group that provides teacher training, educational leadership, and also lobbies Congress and decision makers regarding bilingual and ESL education. -
Castaneda v. Pickard
This case went through the courts for several years before being decided (overturned) by the Supreme Court in 1981. In this case, Roy Castaneda, father of two Mexican American children, claimed that the school district was discriminating against his children as they were being taught in segregated classrooms . The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Castaneda, establishing a three part test for determining how bilingual education programs would be held responsible for meeting EEOA requirements. -
Illinois v. Gomez
A state case that used the test factors under Castaneda and ruled that state agencies and local education agencies are required, under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act to help meet the needs of limited English proficient students. This case made it clear that obligation is on both the state and local educational agencies to comply. -
Educate America Act
This act is also called Goals 2000 and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The main purpose of this Act is to ensure that all states and communities help students reach their full potential. The Act had many goals to achieve by the year 2000 including, but not limited to increasing the high school graduation to 90%, have the U.S. be first in the world in math and science, and to help promote social, emotional, and academic growth of all children. -
California Proposition 227
A ballot proposition sponsored by Ron Unz that passed with 61% of the vote. This measure would require California public schools to teach ESL students in mostly English and reduce the time ESL students were not taught in English. Prop 227 sought to eliminate bilingual classes barring a special circumstance. The prop also required the government to provide $50 million dollar a year for English classes for adults who would tutor ESL students -
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
NCLB is a controversial act that requires all schools to annually test students using a state-wide standardized test. Schools receiving Title I funding must also make Adequate Yearly Progress in those test scores. Schools that repeatedly test poorly may be taken over by the state or other entities. Recently, President Obama has granted waivers to several states regarding NCLB -
English Language Unity Act
Although this is not the first Act of its kind, the English Language Unity Act, first introduced in 2005, attempted to establish English as the official language of the United States. If passed, would require all official government to be conducted in English and for all naturalization to be tested on the applicant’s ability to read and understand English.
