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Argument For Bilingual Education

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Imagine struggling to learn English because your school banned speaking other languages. One solution to this fear is bilingual education, which involved academic programs that teach in two languages. In June 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227, which removed most “bilingual” classes by requiring public schools in the state to teach all English language development classes only in English (Smith). With many immigrants storming into California, Proposition 58 overturned Proposition 227 in the November 2016 election (Hopkinson). Now, in 2017, California houses at least 220 languages, in which 44% that speak a language other than English (Dolan). With the diversity and immigrant-heavy population of the Bay Area, schools should require bilingual education for the most-spoken languages of the city, besides English. Bilingual education would help keep people in touch with their culture while accepting other cultures. Students can also avoid grade retention and get an extra boost later in the workforce.
Showing children that there are other languages, cultures, and people outside of their own forms a sense of uniqueness and acceptance for cultural diversity. Diana Vasquez, a mother of two boys, left Mexico for better education in the United States. She says that having bilingual programs at her sons’ school not only allowed them to be fluent in English and Spanish, but it also opened up “an opportunity to meet peers with different experiences and to recognize that the
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