The schools found a definite need for intervention. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Bilingual Education Act, which provided federal assistance to school d

educational opportunities. Noted writer Brian Taylor author of “English for the Children,” points out the many objectives of the bilingual education program: the first objective is to teach students basic academic subjects in their native language therefore increasing their academic progress. The program was also designed to teach the students both reading and writing skills in their native language and eventually to immerse them into classes taught in English. Students in bilingual education programs learn English from the time they enter school. All their academic classes, however, are taught in their native language. After three years of English instruction, students are put into English-only classes. The purpose of these objectives is to preserve the students’ culture at school (Taylor). As reported from “Education Week on the Web,” bilingual education programs are based on a maintenance program, which preserves the students’ native language skills while teaching English as a second language (“Bilingual Education”). This program would make it easier for the student to learn English without risking success in academic classes. Bilingual education programs sound beneficial; however, after implementation for over 30 years, the results seen from bilingual education are not as positive as one would expect. Bilingual education programs have not lived up to expectations. Bilingual education programs are costing the United States billions of dollars. Statistics show that students in these programs are not showing academic improvement. The programs rely too much on native languages, which leads to further segregation. Students in California have suffered the most from bilingual education programs. More than 25 percent (1.4 million) of the students in California public schools are not proficient in English, and only five percent are gaining proficiency each year. Many students leave school with limited spoken English and almost no ability to read and write in English (Taylor). In some cases, California students in bilingual education programs have taken more than eight years to complete, rather than the expected three years. Each year, only six percent of Californian children in bilingual education classes are adequately prepared to move into English classes. Unfortunately, dropout rates are also increasing. Seventeen percent of Hispanics in bilingual classes drop out compared to the ten percent in English instruction classes. Latinos in bilingual education programs have statistics similar to those of students in English-only schools (Taylor). Bilingual education programs are not solving the problem they were intended to solve. National test scores have shown that bilingual education students are improving at the same rate as students taught only in English.

Gregory Rodreguez reports on the study done by Mark Lopez from the University of Maryland and Marie Mora from New Mexico State University, which reveals the effect bilingual education, has on the earnings of Latinos. First and second generation Latinos who were enrolled in bilingual education class’s earned significantly less than similar peers who received “monolingual English instruction” (17). Bilingual education programs are not improving the financial success of non-English proficient students. If the results are no better than these statistics show, what is the purpose of keeping these programs? Furthermore, the cost of bilingual education programs is outrageous. In 1968, the first year that bilingual education programs were exec

Some topics in this essay:
Ron Unz, Bilingual Education”, Mexico University, Week Web”, Guy Glodis, Education Bilingual, bilingual education, English Reconstruction, Taylor California, Federal Government, Mexican Americans, education programs, bilingual education programs, native language, speaking students, non-english speaking, non-english speaking students, students bilingual education, students bilingual, proposition 227, students native, learning english, bilingual education program, porter 31, students native language,