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Meyer V. Nichols
In 1923 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the 1919 Nebraska Law that prohibited the teaching of any language other than English for children who were below the eighth grade. The plaintiff, Robert Meyer was charged and convicted for violating this when he was caught unlawfully teaching reading to a 10 year old student in the German Language. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision stating that incorporating a mother tounge wasn't in the "best interest for the country." -
Nationality Act 1940
In 1940, right after the start of World War II the United States Government decided to revamp it’s current immigration policies, Immigration Act of 1924. This made it into a more “complete nationality code” which helped to bring clarity and structure to the requirements of becoming a citizen. It defined nationality through birth or naturalization and it also included a more clear and defined version of foreign policy. Also,It developed a new standard for which required basic knowledge of English -
Brown V. Board of Education
Supreme Court ruled in favor of Oliver Brown, an African American parent who sued Topeka, KA. school board stating that segregated schools were a violation of the 14th ammendment. Immediatley after the ruling schools began integration.
"Sepreate educational facilities are inherently unequal" -
Coral Way
Coral Way is a school in Miami, Florida, that was built in 1936. In 1963, it became the first school in America to teach in bilingual instruction – both English and Spanish – and is to this day the only school in that county that does so. Its initial bilingual program was called “Spanish for Spanish”, and was then modified with aid from the Ford Foundation – which is a private foundation that funds programs that benefit different sectors of humanity. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act – more often known as the ESEA – was originally passed in 1965 as part of the “War on Poverty” by Lyndon B. Johnson. The act forbids a national curriculum, while also funding primary and secondary education, and greatly stresses equal access to education for all by increasing the necessary criteria for schools to meet in their bilingual education programs. The ESEA has very specific requirements over how the funding given by it must be spent. -
Lyndon Johnson
President Lyndon Johnson:
President Lyndon Johnson created the Bilingual Education Act, also know as the Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This was the first bilingual-bicultural education program at the federal level. This act supplemented funding for schools in which districts were interested in establishing programs to meet the needs of people with limited English abilities. One stipulation was that it had to be a low income family. The act as well provided -
Bilingual Education Act of 1968
The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 finds its significance in it being the initial piece of legislation that addressed those that speak little, or no, English in the American school system. Although it was not the first to appear anywhere in the U.S., it was the first to affect the entire nation. The Act was first brought about by Senator Ralph Yarborough in 1967, but was officially signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the very beginning of 1968. -
United States v. Texas
Starting in 1970, there were nine school districts in Texas that were past remedy of discrimination that continued to harm the educational achievement of minority students in Texas. In 1981, The District Court found that Texas had failed to help English Language Learners overcome language barriers under the Equal Education Opportunities Act. During this, Texas passed a law expanding bilingual education to grades K through6 and providing English as a Second Language programs for middle and high -
Lau V. Nichols
San Francisco a Chinese American student claimed that students weren’t getting proper attention because they didn't speak English. Under further watch, it was noted that some 1,800 students were not receiving the resources necessary for further advancement. Lau argued that this was a violation of the 14th amendment as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned educational discrimmination. In 1974 the Supreme Court decided in favor of Lau and additional funding to provide for all ELL. -
Bilingual Education Act of 1974
The Bilingual Education Act of 1974 was an amendment to that same act of 1968. Its original version, while an important first step, was believed by many Civil rights activists to be unclear and not fully implemented, leading to these changes. This amendment created several changes, the first of which being a new definition of the “Bilingual Education Program”. This new definition placed more of an emphasis on having instruction given in both the native language and English. -
Equal Educational Opportunities Act
The Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974 is a federal law the prohibits discrimination against faculty, staff, and students. It includes racial segregation of students, and requires school districts to take action to overcome barriers to students' equal participation. This law is one of a number of laws that affects educational institutions in the Rehabilitation Act, Individuals with Disabilities Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Civil Rights movement brought on the idea -
Plyer V. Doe
In 1975, the Supreme Court held up that the constitution guarantees all children a right to access a basic public education and that even undocumented children are to be held under the same right. This began when the state of Texas enforced a statutory law that with holds from local districts, any type of funding for the education or school enrollment of children who were not legally admitted to United States. Supreme Court Ruled this against 14th ammendment because it's above the childs control -
Lau Remedies
The Lau Remedies came about in 1975, and were caused by the decision of the Lau vs. Nichols trial of 1974. The remedies included new policy guidelines for the Title VI requirements for approaching bilingual education that were much more detailed than any before it. The new guidelines were widely circulated both to the school systems and to the public. These new guidelines established specific rules for how to evaluate students, and how to educate them. -
Castaneda vs. Pickard
This case took place in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas in 1978. It was filed by the father of two Mexican-American children against the school district in Raymondville, Texas (RISD). That father, Roy Castañeda, claimed that his children were being taught in segregated classrooms, and were being ethnically discriminated against, as well as being deprived of the opportunites to be part of an adequate bilingual education program. -
Casteneda v. Pickard
The case of Castaneda v. Pickard went through the courts for several years before being overturned by the Supreme Court in 1981. The case was created because, Roy Castaneda, the 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 Court ruled in favor of Castaneda. This created a three part test that determined how bilingual education programs would be held responsible for meet -
Proposition 227 (California)
In 1998, Proposition 227 was created in California. It changed the way that Limited English Proficient Students are taught in California. The Proposition specifically requires California public schools to teach Limited English Proficient Students in special classes that are taught nearly all in English. This provision had the effect of eliminating bilingual classes in almost all cases. I required that Limited English Proficient students stay in classes for a shorter time period. The law eli -
Ron Unz
Ron Unz is a theoretical physicist by training. He is the Chairman of Wall Street Analytics Inc., a Palo Alto based financial services software company that he founded in 1987. He has always been very interested in issues relating to public policy. He serves on the advisory board of the Reason Foundation. Mr. Unz has done many writings on issues of immigration, ethnicity, and social policy which have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times and many more importan -
Proposition 203 (Arizona)
In 2000, Proposition 203 was passed in Arizona. It is also known as English for the Children, which is a campaign created by Ron Unz, who also funded the Proposition as well as made a similar one in the state of California. It limited the type of instruction available to English Language Learner students. Before the Proposition, schools were free in terms of English Language Learners instruction to use bilingual or immersion methods. According to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, it -
No Child Left Behind Act
The most recent restoration of Lyndon B Johnson’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) from 1956. The act was original enacted as a form of education reform working to improve the quality and equity of education in the U.S. With the NCLB act, the central goal is improving education for lower income society, and with that has come the requirement of standardized annual testing in order to see what is needing to be implemented for each school.
