As we continue to find ways to better our education system, let’s take a look at some of the laws and acts that have impacted it thus far. In 1954 Brown v. the Board of Education was designed to desegregate schools as well as promise for more just, diverse, and equitable schooling to the general public (Scott & Quinn, 2014). About 20 years after Brown v. Board of Education was passed, the Supreme Court was faced with another discrimination case known as Lau v. Nichols. In Lau v. Nichols, the San Francisco school system was unable to provide sufficient language instruction to students of Chinses descent, which violated 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and denied those students of a meaningful opportunity to participate in public education (Lau v. Nichols,
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One act that was passed and only affected California is Proposition 227. During the late 1990’s, Californians were convinced that their language diversity, especially its Spanish, was a problem and it needed to be eradicated, so they decided to pass Proposition 227, which essentially banned bilingual education in the school system (Carter, 2014). Lastly, the most recent act to be passed was the No Child Left Behind act of 2002, which forced teachers to teach solely, based on the test material, as well as tested students in reading and math, every year, and demanding those test scores to go up each year (Webley, 2012). Some of these acts are the reason why our public school system is failing our second language learners, as well as our state of California, and even our country as a whole. If we continue to implement these laws and acts, the gap between second language learners and English speakers will
One act that was passed and only affected California is Proposition 227. During the late 1990’s, Californians were convinced that their language diversity, especially its Spanish, was a problem and it needed to be eradicated, so they decided to pass Proposition 227, which essentially banned bilingual education in the school system (Carter, 2014). Lastly, the most recent act to be passed was the No Child Left Behind act of 2002, which forced teachers to teach solely, based on the test material, as well as tested students in reading and math, every year, and demanding those test scores to go up each year (Webley, 2012). Some of these acts are the reason why our public school system is failing our second language learners, as well as our state of California, and even our country as a whole. If we continue to implement these laws and acts, the gap between second language learners and English speakers will