A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court’s ruling that the state of Texas must improve its programs for English-language learners.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, held unanimously that a federal district court abused its discretion when it ruled that the state was in violation of a longtime desegregation order and a federal civil rights law.
“There was no sufficient evidence or finding of statewide de jure segregation against Mexican-Americans,” the appeals court said in its March 22 decision in United States v. Texas.
Education Week’s Mary Ann Zehr has been covering this case and has written a more extensive post in her Learning the Language blog.