CA Banned Bilingual Ed For Almost 20 Years, It Still Hasn’t Recovered

After a prolonged and complicated saga of nearly two decades of struggle against various barriers, such as discrimination against immigrant students in schools, bilingual education programs, and dual immersion programs, California is fighting to make its way forward and is on the path to recovery.

Despite the most recent efforts of progressive activism in the field of education, the damage caused by anti-immigrant laws and proposals, possibly supported by a racist electorate or, in the case of some immigrant voters, perhaps influenced by a series of “myths and misconceptions,” California still “has not recovered from the damage,” according to a well-documented article from Cal Matters.
However, and fortunately for many immigrant families— not only Latinos, as there are students in California who speak more than 100 languages— there is an increasing number of schools offering “dual language immersion” programs.

Scientific studies on the subject have found better performance, for example, in math, social studies, history, and geography, among students in bilingual programs, which often translates into better jobs and higher salaries.

These advantages of bilingual education programs have been understood and taken advantage of by Anglo-American white families, who have sent their children to these dual immersion programs. It is only more recently that Latino families have started to understand this and send their children to such programs to ensure a better future, which, however, as of 2024, is once again filled with uncertainty.
To delve deeper into the intricate issues of this thorny matter, it is recommended to read the Cal Matters article directly titled:

“California Banned Bilingual Education for Nearly 20 Years and Still Hasn’t Recovered from the Damage.“