History of Bilingual Education in America
Historical Timeline of Bilingual Education in America
1700 European immigrants settle in rural enclaves and run their
own non-English-speaking schools
1839 Ohio is the first state to adopt a bilingual education law.
1847 Louisiana passes a law similar to Ohio's bilingual education law
1847 Louisiana passes a law similar to Ohio's bilingual education law
1848 Mexico and the United States sign the Treaty of Hidalgo
1864 Congress prohibits Native Americans from being taught
in heir own languages
in heir own languages
1870s William Harris argues for bilingual education
1879 Native American children are separated from their families and forced to attend boarding schools
1888 Attempts being to legislate against German and in favor of English
1900 Over 15 million children, many new immigrants, are now enrolled in public schools
At least 600,000 elementary students received some part of their education in German
1906 Congress passes the first federal language law
1917 The US enters WWI, spurring a wave of language
restriction in schools
restriction in schools
1934 Bureau of Indian Affairs official policy of repressing native languages is
rescinded
rescinded
1959 Cuban immigrants flock to Miami after revolution
1961 Dade County, Florida implements a full bilingual program for Cubans
1968 Congress passes the Bilingual Act of 1968
1970 Chicano Students in Crystal City, Texas demand to speak Spanish, study Chicano
Chicano history, and be taught by Chicano teachers
Chicano history, and be taught by Chicano teachers
1974 Eight-year-old Kenny Lau sues the San Francisco School District over
English-only instruction
English-only instruction
1975 The National Association for Bilingual Education is founded
1980s The population of foreign-born residents swells by 40
percent
percent
1980s Voters in Dade County, Florida, pass the anti-bilingual
ordinance
ordinance
1994 California passes Proposition 187
1998 California voters overwhelmingly approve Proposition 227
2000 Arizona passes its version of English-only laws,
Proposition 203
Proposition 203
Timeline Reference
PBS. (2001). The bilingual education controversy."Time Line" Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/roots_in_history/bilingual_timeline1.html