Texas Likely to Appeal Court Ruling on English-Language-Learner Programs

Texas officials say that they are likely to appeal a federal court order telling the state it must, by the 2009-10 school year, revamp programs for English-language learners in grades 7-12 and improve monitoring of programs for ELLs in all grades.

But the July 25 order in the long-running case of U.S. v. Texas has drawn praise from ELL advocates, who hope it will spur improvement of the quality of education for English-language learners in middle and high schools across the nation.

The ruling “will end up forcing the state to address an often-ignored problem in education, and that is the quality of education for English-language learners at the secondary level,” said David Hinojosa, a staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund , and a lawyer...