The United States is one the world's most ethnically diverse.
One of the most frequent asked questions are,.
how do we accommodate immigrants and whether to try to fully.
blend them into the U.S. culture There is a huge.
controversy over the Bilingual Education issue. After many.
years of bilingual education in the United States, one thing.
is certain that it doesn't work and it's failing America's.
immigrants but many might disagree with this statement and.
may think that Bilingual Education is a successful program.
Bilingual education is a dual-language program designed.
to provide equal education opportunities to students of.
limited English proficiency (Gallegos 99). There has been.
lots of attention put towards Bilingual Education because of.
the large number of non-English speaking immigrants in.
America. The first Bilingual Education act was passed in.
1968, which allowed students to learn material in school.
partly in their own language and the rest in English. By.
1973, the federal budget for bilingual education had grown.
to 45 million dollars and supported programs in twenty-six.
different languages(Lang 61). Language minority in the.
United States are often called limited English proficient.
(LEP) students. Estimates of LEP students range from 2.5.
million to 4.6 million, which equals up to 7 to 10 percent.
of the student population(Lang 61). Some of the laws that.
support the idea of the Bilingual Education is the Title IV.
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law basically stated.
that there should be equal education given to everyone and.
it prohibited discrimination by schools on the issue of.
race, color, gender or ethnic background. Another act was.
passed in 1974 which was called The Equal and Opportunity.
Act of 1974. This law established minimum standards of.
education of LEP students in public schools (Lang 62). The.
main goals for a Bilingual Educational Program was to learn.
their basic subjects such as reading, math, social studies,.
