Equal Protection and Public Education Essay

.docx

School

Grand Canyon University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

500

Subject

English

Date

Apr 3, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

6

Uploaded by DrStarEel30

Equal Protection and Public Education Wendy Olalde Grand Canyon University POS-500 Professor Scaros March 5, 2024
For hundreds of years, the US. has been known as the melting pot. This term is used because of “the idea that all of the cultural differences in the United States meld together, as if they were metals being melted down to become stronger alloy” (Marenco) It also comes from the US welcoming immigrants from all different countries. However, an issue that is still on the rise is trying to decide a single classification for English Language Learners and it is even more difficult for our students in school. The lack of classification is what causes many students to be placed in classrooms that do not fit their needs. Being in classes that don’t fit their needs, such as having curriculum down in their first language is what has caused many of them to fall behind academically. There are more English Language Learner students in the US then there were just ten years ago. In the past classification terms such as culturally and linguistically diverse students or English as a second language were used, now most classification terms like these are outdated and provide limited descriptive characteristics. (Learning for Justice) Many of these students have the inability to speak and understand the English language which makes it difficult for teachers to teach the curriculum at times and it’s difficult for the students to learn. The school district must come up with an alternative program that will fit the needs of these students. A way to classify these students and get them set up in the correct classrooms is to determine a single classification system for English Language Learners is through testing and determine how proficient everyone is in the use of the English language and who is not. (Abedi) There have been numerous legal issues that have arisen from trying to classify students in the public education system. As the years have gone on, it has continued to be a work in progress to rectify these issues. A couple of important cases that went to the Supreme court had stood out
date back to the Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 and Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. One of the most recent cases happened in 1974 in the Lau v. Nichols which was when Chinese American students in a San Francisco Unified School District were placed in mainstream classrooms even though they were not proficient in English. (Wright) Not too long after the case was decided Lau v. Nichols codified into federal law the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA). Section 1703 (f) of this act states: "No state shall deny educational opportunities to an individual on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin by … (f) the failure of an educational agency to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs." (Wright) Under the US Constitution one can see all the changes in court rulings for equal protection rights, segregation, classification of ELL students, immigration, and including the Equal Protection Clause. The Fourteenth Amendment is where the Equal Protection Clause can be found and is considered an important law in public education. Court systems across the nation have invoked this amendment and the clause to prohibit segregation of children due to their diversity. Many school districts continue to excel in removing the language barriers from their schools or adding staff such as ELL teachers to assist with English Language Learning students. The government has a role to play in education and that role has grown over the last fifty years; it now has four main functions. The first function is to ensure equal access to education for all students regardless of background, the second function is providing supplementary funding for students at risk of education failure or in need of additional supports, the third function is supporting educational research and development, and the fourth and last function is building the capacity of states localities to improve their education programs (Sugarman, 2019).
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
  • Access to all documents
  • Unlimited textbook solutions
  • 24/7 expert homework help