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In 1970, Judge William Wayne Justice of the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas ordered the State of Texas and nine school districts to remedy past discrimination that continued to harm the educational achievement of minority students in the State
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In 1981, the District Court found that Texas had failed to help ELLs overcome language barriers under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA). While the case was on appeal, Texas passed a law expanding bilingual education to grades K-6 and providing for English as a Second Language (ESL) programs for middle and high schools. The Fifth Circuit held the issue was moot because the State’s revised language program must be given a chance to work.1
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In February 2006, MALDEF filed a Motion for Further Relief against the State for failing to effectively monitor and supervise the State’s bilingual and ESL programs. In addition, MALDEF challenged the State’s ESL program for secondary students for failing to help those students learn English.
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On July 30, 2007, Judge Justice issued an opinion denying the motion. MALDEF asked the court to reconsider and a year later, the court threw out its earlier opinion and found that Texas had violated the rights of ELLs under the EEOA. Among the violations included were: under-identification of ELLs; the achievement standards for monitoring language programs were arbitrary and not based upon equal educational opportunity; the State’s intervention monitors lacked bilingual and ESL certifications, r
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The U.S. Supreme court overturned a decision by the state court, deciding in favor of Horne in 2009. Arizona State Court previously decided in favor of Flores in 1992. ELLs brought the case against the state board of education and state superintendent on the grounds that the disctrict of Nogales failed to teach them English.
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The State appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit, and oral argument was held in June 2009.
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Announced as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and funded throught the ED Recovery Act. States had to meet criteria and apply to receive award money for education reform. The monetary amount ranged from $20 to $700 million and was awarded based on the state's success of teachers, # of charter schools, turning failing schools around, etc. TEXAS DID NOT APPLY TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS INITIATIVE.
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Fixing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is four years overdue. In March of 2010, the Administration unveiled its Blueprint for Reform.
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The Fifth Circuit issued its opinion on March 22, 2010, reversing the injunction and remanding the case to the lower court for additional findings in order to determine whether the State or individual districts (which have yet to be brought into the lawsuit) should be held liable for the dismal performance of secondary ELLs. MALDEF and META expect to press forward with the lawsuit on behalf of ELLs and will name individual districts as defendants in the near future.
