The Fight for Bilingual Education and Women’s Rights in the 1960s and 1970s

First off, it’s important to understand the difference between learning and education. Learning is the ability of an individual’s brain to acquire and retain information for a lifetime, whereas education is an aide to further strengthen a student’s learning capacity with the use of resources: teachers, libraries, classroom environment, etc. All students are essentially equal when they enter the educational environment, however students who don’t speak English have an unfair disadvantage in the american educational system.

What is bilingual education? Bilingual education is a term that describes the different kind of educational program such as English as a Second Language. This program is taught in their native language. “For example, young children might be taught to read in their native language of Spanish; they are transitioned to English-only instruction when their English is proficient enough to ensure success.” (http://www.suite101.com/content/bilingual-education-programs-pros-and-cons-a227708) Since 1960, there was a controversy in the public school to have bilingual education. The bilingual education programs have promise students a good education in their native language, so they won’t fall behind in their schoolwork.

Around 1959, bilingual education took flight in the United States. Starting in Miami and quickly making its way San Francisco, bilingual education soon led to the Bilingual Education Act, which promoted “No Child Left Behind”. Only twenty years later, the act acquired the attention of high schools around the country. Nonetheless, bilingual education is not always taken to be the cure-all for acclimating immigrants to the United States. In his article “Aria: A Memoir of Bilingual Childhood”, Richard Rodriguez argues that students should not take part in bilingual education by explaining how it takes away individuality and a sense of family through the use of ethos, diction, and imagery; Rodriguez also uses parallelism and ethos to point out how a bilingual childhood can help students feel connected to society.

In the article, Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracan over language and Culture, Juan Gonzalez, a journalist and broadcaster of the daily show, Democracy Now, describes how bilingualism has impacted the United States’ modern education system. He describes an amendment that would constitute English as the official in the United States, which he believes can be a potential threat to the educational system. Gonzalez suggests that instead of having an amendment that constitutes English as the national language, American schools should implement Spanish to highlight the importance of being bilingualism in the American educational system. A constitutional amendment declaring English as the national language would be damaging to bilingual students because it would limit their capability of communicating in English or their native language, and therefore they have would fall behind in classes and will not succeed in the American educational system. To highlight the importance of bilingualism, even more the educational system should implement a variety of languages.

A common joke says “What do you call someone who speaks two languages?” in which the person being asked the question would usually respond with “bilingual.” It goes on to ask about those who speak three or four languages, but then there is a kicker. “What does one call someone who only speaks one language?” to which the punch line is “an American.” According to the 2006 General Social Survey, only 25 percent of American adults are fluent in a foreign language, while only 7 percent cite the source of this education to formal schooling (Devlin 1). Large amounts of evidence point to the benefits of being multilingual. Although the United States has a few laws that help immigrants assimilate through dual language programs, there is little to be

I completely agree with you that the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 is a great program that provides assistance to students with limited English speaking ability. With this bill, many immigrant students have the same opportunity to learn in a new language. As you stated above, the Brown vs Board of Education Act of 1954 is one of the most important against the segregation in public school. However, we can say that more need to be done to resolve the problem of racial and segregation in this country.The supreme court had to order and reinforce the segregation ruling over and over in making sure that every student has access to an equal education regardless the color of their

Around 1959, bilingual education took flight in the United States. Starting in Miami and quickly making its way San Francisco, bilingual education soon led to the Bilingual Education Act which promoted “No Child Left Behind”. Only twenty years later, the act acquired the attention of high schools around the country. Nonetheless, bilingual education is not always taken to be the cure-all for acclimating immigrants to the United States. In his article “Aria: A Memoir of Bilingual Childhood”, Richard Rodriguez argues that students should not take part in bilingual education by explaining how it takes away individuality and a sense of family through use of ethos, diction, and imagery; Rodriguez also uses

Bilingual Education where Supporters feel that students miss a great deal by not being taught in their family’s language. That children that retain their family’s language will retain a sense of individuality. Their ethnic heritage & cultural ties. Helping Students acquire the skills of a classroom crucial for public success. Rodriguez also discusses the use of teaching and using a single language.

Texas passed a law that required English to be taught as a language of instruction in schools. California Bureau of Instruction conducted their classes in English language. However, many protested against English being the language of instruction. Many Spanish households wanted their children to attend bilingual school; they wanted their children to have both of best world, meaning they wanted their children to learn reading, math, and writing in Spanish but also still attend public schools. Most bilingual schools where setup like catholic schools. In 1887, Mexican Americans open up their own school (Mexican Preparatory School); due to Mexican students feeling unwanted and un-motived from school authorities. Public schooling did nothing but try to deculturalization Mexican students who did attend school. Educators argued that the segregation of Mexican children would provide the opportunity to, in (Gilbert) Gonzalez’s words, “Americanize the child in the controlled linguistic and cultural environment and to train Mexicans for occupations considered open to, and appropriate them” (page 97). Everyone knew that segregation was meant to separate the two. Conditions were poorly in Mexican schools. Many still argued on the topic of English language. In 1918, Texas passed a law that made it criminal offense to use anything other than English language in the school instruction. The League of United Latin American Citizen (LULAC), was formed to integrate the culture of Mexico with that of the United States. LULAC struggled to end segregation in Texas. It wasn’t until the 1930s with the help from the NAACP; that the LULAC was able to end segregation of Mexican

In the 1970’s bilingual education in Texas was just beginning to emerge. The topic was contentious, towards the end of the 1970’s however we see a shift in the topic, not advocating for bilingual education as it had at first, but looking at the results of bilingual education and the ways in which it could be improved. I will be analyzing the ways in which bilingual education was approached in this decade, focusing heavily on Texas but occasionally looking at the Southwest. Texas has always set the pattern for the rest of the country in terms of academics, by looking at the emergence of the bilingual education movement it will aid in the understanding of where bilingual education is today. The fight for equal education went through various iterations:

To many opponents of the bilingual education program that existed prior to these laws, encouraging bilingualism and biculturalism threatened the very definition of the American culture, which, they believed, promoted the values and language of a common group (Weisman and Hanson,2002). ). These proponents of the initiatives believed that new immigrants must abandon their native languages and cultural practices to fully assimilate into U.S. society. They feared that Spanish-speaking immigrants in particular had been "clinging" to their language and resisting learning English (Mora,2009).

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Federal Bilingual Education Act of 1968, ended the War on Poverty. Bilingual education is the use of more than one language to deliver curriculum content. The bilingual education system is designed for students to become proficient in English, and also encourage students to become bi-cultural; and function in two, or more linguistic and cultural groups. The policy expressed U.S commitment to the needs of the growing number of children in the public schools, whose first language was not English. In 1968, the government passed the Bilingual Education Act, which required language minority students to be taught in both their native language and English. I myself had to undergo English as a

This book is by Karen Blumenthal, an award winning business journalist. Information that I got out of this book is how universities used to be before Title IX, and a couple of Patsy Mink’s past experiences. I better understand my topic because now I know the main reason of why Patsy Mink created Title IX and more of how society was at that time.

Title IX. (2016). In Columbia University & P. Lagasse, The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from

Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Diversifying our culture in the world is extremely critical in order to propel to a brighter, better, and fairer future. This became quite essential since the rapid technological advancements led us into the new age of having a globalized society. To keep multicultural alive for future days to come, we must teach our younger generation, specifically the children, about its history and impact in our lives. What other better way to do this than to incorporate cultural diversity in children’s books. These books are the best way a child can gain an understanding about oneself and about the world around them.