Bilingual Education Act Research Paper

Words: 1674
Pages: 7

In 1967, a senator in Texas named Ralph Yarborough introduced the Bilingual Education Act. Through this act, the federal government was to provide funds to schools to have educational programs that assisted immigrant children who were very limited with the English language. The act primarily focused on Spanish speaking children but later was amended to benefit other children as well (Glavin). Several states in the United States opposed bilingual education and in 2002, Initiative 31 was on the Colorado ballot. Initiative or Amendment 31 required schools to be taught only in English (figure 1). Parents were given the option to request bilingual education, but it would be extremely difficult to get an acceptance due to schools having the right …show more content…
One method includes a 90 to 10 ratio of the native language to English that builds up as children advance in their education. 90% of instruction is given in the native language and the 10% of English focuses on helping children develop their verbal skills (Lindholm, Kathryn 56). A school in Aurora, Montessori del Mundo (MdM), is an example for this method (their focus is Spanish and English). At MdM, the 90 to 10 ratio is used with preschool and kindergarten children. 1st graders through 3rd grade receive 60% Spanish and 40% English. Once the children reach 4th,5th, and 6th grade, they are taught 50% in Spanish and 50% in English (“Montessori del Mundo”). By using this method, the school of Montessori del Mundo is preparing their students to be …show more content…
Because America is becoming a country of many cultural backgrounds, it is crucial that there are people proficiently fluent in other languages besides English in the workforce. Take the Hispanic community as an example, it is currently 14.2 percent of the population and by 2050 it is expected to be 20 percent(“Hispanics: Demographics”). When these bilingual children grow older, they will have endless opportunities and will be highly competitive against monolingual people when looking for a job. Fields where these bilingual speakers are needed include but are not limited to: finance, social work, business, and health care (Smith, 7). Furthermore, some children may decide to become a bilingual educator themselves, opening the doors to many grants available to pay off their tuition (Smith, 9). By having bilingual speakers in the workforce, gaps will be closed between those who don’t know English and the service they struggled to receive before. Bilingual programs won’t only help the children, but also their