English-Language Learners

Bilingual Education Column

April 12, 1995 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A federal appeals court has agreed with a lower-court ruling that an Arizona law establishing English as the state’s official language is unconstitutional.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, ruled last month that the amendment to the Arizona Constitution that voters narrowly approved in 1988 violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects freedom of speech.

Leaders of the group Arizonans for Official English, which spearheaded the amendment, said they will likely appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

While saying it recognized “the importance of promoting national unity” through a common language, the appellate court said the state cannot ban the use of other languages.

An estimated 17 states have “official English” laws.

A state employee brought the original suit against the state, claiming she feared retribution if she spoke Spanish in her job. (See Education Week, 02/14/90.)

The executive director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will become the first associate director for legislation, policy, and public relations for the National Association for Bilingual Education.

Richard V. L¢pez. began working for the caucus in 1991 as the legislative director and took over as the executive director in 1993. He has worked on legislation in areas such as bilingual education and immigration for the caucus and individual members of Congress.

The caucus was one of 28 such groups whose Capitol Hill offices were targeted for elimination by the new Republican majority in the U.S. House.

A commission appointed by Gov. William F. Weld of Massachusetts to study bilingual-education programs has concluded there were not enough data to judge them.

Because many students who do not speak English are not included in the statewide assessment program, data on their performance are limited, the panel’s report said.

The panel was created as part of a package of education reforms signed into law in 1993.

The reforms call for students with limited English proficiency who are participating in bilingual-education programs to be tested in their native tongues.

Roughly 12 percent of the state’s enrollment speak a language other than English.

Copies of the report are available free by writing to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, Room 1401, McCormack Building, 1 Ashburton Place, Boston, Mass. 02108-1696.

--Lynn Schnaiberg

A version of this article appeared in the April 12, 1995 edition of Education Week as Bilingual Education Column

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

English-Language Learners Nuanced Accountability Would Help English Learners. New Research Shows How
A new report offers suggestions on how states can approach federal accountability measures with more nuance for English learners.
5 min read
The child is studying the alphabet.
Germanovich/iStock/Getty
English-Language Learners Opinion How to Connect With English-Language Newcomers. Teachers Share Their Favorite Lessons
Stock classrooms with books that reflect students’ lives, languages, and cultures and invite them into as yet unfamiliar worlds.
10 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
English-Language Learners Do Immigrant Students Help the Academic Outcomes of U.S.-Born Peers? One Study Says Yes
Schools and districts across the country have recently been reporting larger numbers of immigrant student enrollment, researchers say.
5 min read
Eric Parker teaches a class NW Classen High that has immigrant students and he has a flag representing each, which is a way to make them feel welcome, Tuesday, September 10, 2019.
Eric Parker teaches a class NW Classen High that has immigrant students and he has a flag representing each, which is a way to make them feel welcome, Tuesday, September 10, 2019. In a study published in the Review of Economic Studies last year, researchers analyzed population-level school records and birth records from Florida to measure the impact of immigrant students on U.S.-born peers’ academic outcomes.
Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman via AP
English-Language Learners Federal Funding for English Learners Has a New Home. What Do Educators Hope This Means?
$890 million in Title III grants moved to the federal office of English language acquisition in December.
4 min read
Billy Lopez and Indica Beckham read together during kindergarten class at Fairview Elementary in Carthage, Mo., on Nov. 26, 2018. The Carthage School District, along with three other Missouri districts, is participating in a $2.6 million five-year grant project that seeks to bolster its English Language Learners program. The grant will provide ELL training to teachers in the Carthage, Kansas City Public, Bayless and Columbia school districts.
Billy Lopez and Indica Beckham read together during kindergarten class at Fairview Elementary in Carthage, Mo., on Nov. 26, 2018. The Carthage School District, along with three other Missouri districts, is participating in a $2.6 million five-year grant project that seeks to bolster its English Language Learners program.
Roger Nomer/The Joplin Globe via AP