Verdict still out

Murky territory awaits those who ask the questions: Are newcomer programs legal? And are they effective? The answer to both appears to be: It depends.

Civil rights advocates like Margie McHugh of the New York Immigration Coalition are torn. In the context of backlash against immigrants and severely overcrowded city schools where newcomer students are easily lost in the shuffle, schools like Newcomers High look like a good alternative.

But by design, such schools only serve a tiny slice of the immigrant student population in a city like New York. So what happens at Newcomers High does not immediately affect the larger school system where the majority of immigrant students are educated. "We prefer systemic solutions," McHugh...