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Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
President - L. B. Johnson (Dem)
88th Congress - Both House and Senate have a Democratic majority On April 9th, 1965, President Johnson signed the ESEA of 1965 into law after it was passed in the senate on April 7th. This act signaled the beginning of Federal Government involvement in the country's educational system. Growing out of the "Great Society's War on Poverty" the act offered funding enticements to improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged children. -
Bilingual YES / The Bilingual Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-247) under Title VII of ESEA
President - L.B. Johnson (Dem)
90th Congress - Senate and House have a Democratic majority The Bilingual Act of 1968 under Title VII of ESEA was the first legislation for bilingual education passed by Congress and signed into law by President Johnson on 1/2/1968. It had bipartisan support and granted funds specifically for the needs of Limited English Speaking Ability (LESA) students in poverty. Unfortunately, the focus was not on helping these students keep up academically with their peers. -
Bilingual YES / 1974 and 1978 reauthorizations of Title VII
During these two reauthorizations:
- 1974 Presidents (Rep) Richard Nixon and (Rep) Gerald Ford
- 1974 - 93rd congress, both Houses are Democratic- 1978 President (Dem) Jimmy Carter
- 1978 - 96th Congress, both Houses are Democratic
- Both reauthorizations increased funding
- 1974 expanded to include ALL Limited English Proficiency students, not just those of low income
- 1978 expanded English instruction to include listening, reading, writing, and speaking
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Bilingual NO / Opposition to Bilingualism Strengthens
President Carter (Dem)
95th Congress Both Houses are Democratic- Congress voted to limit Title VII support to bilingual programs declaring the native language could only be used "to the extent necessary to allow a child to achieve competence in the English language." (P.L. 95-561)
- Due to political turn against bilingual education
- Warnings that bilingual education might lead to a "Quebec-style" separatism in the U.S.
- Objections to public funds being used to perpetuate "ethnic languages"
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Bilingual NO / English - Only Movement
Senator S.I. Hayakawa (R-CA) from 1977 - 1983
President - 1981-1989 Ronald Regan (Rep)
Congress was mostly Democratic during this time except for the Republican Senates from 1981 -1986 1981 - Hayakawa unsuccessfully proposed a constitutional amendment declaring English the official language of the U.S.
- He linked the growing backlash to bilingual education with U.S. language policy in general
- After he retired in 1984 he began the advocacy group U.S. "English" to lobby for English only. -
Bilingual NO / 1984 and 1988 Reauthorization of Title VII
President - Ronald Reagan (Rep)
1984 - 98th Congress - Senate (Rep) and House (Dem)
1988 - 100th Congress - both Houses Democratic- Bilingual education is feeling the effects of the mid-1970s backlash amid mediocre results from Title VII programs
- During 1984 - 1988 funding for bilingual education programs decreased by 47% when all other education spending decreased by 8%.
- Media was spreading the idea that support for bilingual education had ended in the U.S.
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Bilingual YES / 1994 Reauthorization of the Bilingual Education Act
President - Bill Clinton (Dem)
103rd Congress - Both Houses are Democratic- 1933 the Standford Working Group argued to the Clinton administration that bilingualism should be promoted to all students
- Funds available for ELL programs through both Title VII and Title I
- Priority given to bilingual programs
- Bilingual educations pedagogy moves away from a remedial, compensatory, and deficiency model to enrichment and innovation
- Schools encouraged to integrate bilingual Ed into school core
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Bilingual NO / English Only Movement in States
President -Bill Clinton (Dem)
105th Congress - Both Houses are Republican- CA voters approved an initiative led by Ron Unz mandating English-Only instruction for ELLs called Prop 227 -Portrayed as a way to help immigrants using language learning myths and media did not report on its more restrictive policies
- Bilingual advocates were not prepared to fight back effectively
- Prop 227 was repealed on 11/8/2016
- By 2010, 26 states had active "Official English" language laws in their books
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Bilingual NO / 2001 Reauthorization of ESEA - No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
President - George W. Bush (Rep)
107th Congress - Senate Dem and House Rep- In essence, replaced ESEA with sweeping changes
- Bipartisan support with both sides stressing "more accountability for results" so put in place annual testing for grades 3 - 8 and implemented increasingly severe sanctions for schools that did not make AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress)
- Demolished the Bilingual Education Act (in place since 1968), giving previously Federal functions to the states
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Bilingual NO / Title III - the English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act
President - George W. Bush (Rep)
107th Congress - Senate Dem and House Rep- This is Title VII renamed
- Formally competitive Federal grants are now "formula" grants administered by state education agencies
- 75% of funding set aside for native-language programs is repealed
- Professional development is capped at 6.5% of annual funding
- Pedagogical emphasis of Title II is on English acquisition and academic achievement in English not on cultivating bilingualism
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Bilingual YES (well... a little better) / Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA)
President - Barack Obama (Dem)
114th Congress - Both Houses are Republican- ESSA didn't change too much from NCLB but did ease several burdens of testing which was positive for ELL students
- For example, the ESSA removed the 2014 deadline that 100% of students must reach academic proficiency on the annual tests - which were in English.
- Eliminated AYP. Instead, school reward or sanctions is based on % of annual gains in scores
- Students must show college or career readiness - options
- ESSA didn't change too much from NCLB but did ease several burdens of testing which was positive for ELL students
