Advocacy Day Timeline
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The Law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder Act, was born out of parental negligence.
It stated that parents and masters of those children who had been apprenticed to them were responsible for their basic education and literacy. All children, and servants as well, should be able to demonstrate competency in reading and writing as outlined by the governing officials. The idea behind this was that if all citizens could understand the written language on some basic level, all citizens would be able to understand and therefore abide by the governing laws of the land.
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American Education in the 1800s
The move from local to state oversight and control of public education emerged in the early years of the 1800s but didn’t hit its stride, including eventual emergence of federal oversight, til well into the 20th century.
1840s – state systems of public education were established, and some schools were initially bilingual.
De facto segregation in education continued with early attempts at addressing the issue through bilingual education.
Bilingual schools were problematic in a historical context that increasingly highlighted differences/divisions among ethnic/racial lines as we headed into the Civil War.
These divisions were crystallized morally, ethically, politically, and economically (consider slavery and use of various immigrant populations in indentured service to the creation of the railroads and in service cropping up around the country – hotels, manufacturing, restaurants, laundries, etc.).
1868 Fourteenth Amendment
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
This drew the line clearly along the citizen/non-citizen boundary, allowing for inclusion of citizens (‘productive’) but exclusion of non-citizens (often corresponding closely to groups in servitude or virtual servitude). However, there was no requirement that non-English-speaking citizens be provided education comparable to that provided to English-speaking citizens.
Learn more about the 14th Amendment here.
March 6th 1885 - Tape v. Hurley - Chinese American
Chinese American children given the right to public education on the basis of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the state of California.
However from the 1880s to the 1940s, Asian Americans were educated in segregated public schools by laws and practices.
Access to education was enforced through the courts but there was still no clarity on the notion of ‘equal’ access.
Fight for School
Desegregation by
Asian Americans
Tape vs. Hurley (1885)
World War I (1914 to 1919)
1914-1919 - During World War I there was a push for monolingualism and the teaching of German was eliminated from public schools.
1923 Meyer vs the State of Nebraska
In reaction to the large number of non-English speaking immigrants, by 1923, thirty-four states had passed laws requiring that English be the language of instruction in public schools.
English-only is more firmly entrenched across the country, representing a movement towards national unity through control of language and culture.
Meyer vs Nebraska: Attempt to ban the teaching
of foreign languages
January 5, 1931 - Lemon Grove Grammar School
Lemon Grove Grammar School principal, Jerome Green, acting under instructions from school trustees, turned away Mexican children at the schoolhouse door. The landmark lawsuit resulting from the "Lemon Grove Incident" became the first successful school desegregation court decision in the history of the United States in Roberto Alvarez v. The Lemon Grove School Board in California.
Read more here Watch a Video Here
1946 – Mendez v. Westminster Board of Education
Mendez v. Westminster Board of Education - In this ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the segregation of Mexican and Mexican American students into separate "Mexican schools" was unconstitutional.
Learn more here
Brown v Board of Education established the principle of equal educational
opportunity for all public school students.
Learn more here
1954 – Brown v. Board of Education
1958 - National Defense Education Act
1959 - After the Cuban Revolution, thousands of Cuban families fled to the United States as political exiles. Public and parochial schools, especially those in South Florida, were overwhelmed with the enrollment of Spanish-speaking children.
President Eisenhower authorized the immediate transfer of one million dollars to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare for assistance to South Florida.
1964 Civil Rights Act
President Lyndon Johnson signed the CRA into law just a few hours after it was passed by Congress on July 2, 1964. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 declared that: "No person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."
1967 - The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) was amended to create the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII)
The Bilingual Education Act provided discretionary, supplemental funding (federal aid) for school districts that established programs to meet the “special educational needs” of children with limited English speaking ability.
Title VII was reauthorized in 1968, 1974, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1994, and 2001 (incorporated in a modified form into the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001).
Short Video Here
Deep Dive 10 minute Video Here
1973 - Keyes v. School District Number One
In Keyes v. School District Number One, Denver Colorado, the U.S. Supreme court recognized Mexican Americans as having the constitutional right to be recognized as an identifiable minority.
Petitioners proved that for nearly ten years since 1960 the Denver, Colorado school system implemented an unconstitutional policy of racial discrimination by operating a segregated school system. The defense argued, and the District Court held, that even though one part of the Denver system was guilty of segregation, it did not follow that the entire system was segregated as well.
Learn more here
1974 - Lau v. Nichols
Lau v. Nichols: Some 1800 Chinese students in San Francisco School District had been instructed only in English (immersion without supplemental services). The Supreme Court said “there is no equality of treatment by merely providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education.” In Lau v. Nichols the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the civil rights of non-English speaking children were being violated in schools that did not address their linguistic/educational needs.
Learn more here
1974 - Equal Educational Opportunity Act
The Equal Educational Opportunity Act extended the Lau decision to all schools: "No state shall deny equal educational opportunity to an individual on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin,… [or] failure by an educational agency to overcome language barriers that impede participation by its students in its instructional programs.”
Learn more here
1975 - National Association of Bilingual Education Founded
NABE, the National Association for Bilingual Education, the main professional and advocacy group for bilingual education, was founded.
Learn more about NABE Advocacy here
1975 - Texas law refusing funding to support undocumented children
A Texas school district passed a law denying state school funds to schools that permitted undocumented children into their classrooms.
A flurry of cases and regulations emerge from this law.
1980 – Civil Rights Language Minority Regulations were enacted and required four basic components: identification, assessment, services, and exits; and required that bilingual instruction be given by qualified staff.
The 1980 NPRM proposed bilingual education as the required method of instruction in schools with sufficient numbers of language minority students of one language group.
Subsequently, the Department determined that the proposed regulations were intrusive and burdensome.
1981 - Castaneda v. Pickard
Castaneda v. Pickard required that “appropriate action to overcome language barriers” be taken and that the programs be well documented. It also set the standards for courts in examining programs for LEP students: sound pedagogical theory, implemented effectively with adequate resources and personnel, and after a trial period, evaluation of effectiveness in overcoming language handicaps.
Learn more here
1981 – Idaho v. Migrant Council
This case established the legal responsibility of State Departments of Education to monitor and implement programs for LEP students.
1982 - Plyler v. Doe (457 U.S. 202 (1982)
In June 1982, the Supreme Court issued Plyler v. Doe, a landmark decision holding that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education on account of their immigration status. By a 5-4 vote, the Court found that any resources which might be saved from excluding undocumented children from public schools were far outweighed by the harms imposed on society at large from denying them an education.
Learn more here
1987 - Gomez v. Illinois State Board of Education
Gomez v. Illinois State Board of Education established state education agencies as responsible for ensuring that language minority students' educational needs are met.
Reinforces that not only must EL needs be met - SEAs are responsible for monitoring.
Learn more here
1994 - Executive Order
President Clinton signed an executive order: "Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans" marking a focused effort to ensure a growing subpopulation in the States is accessing educational services.
Learn More Here
1998 - Proposition 227
Proposition 227 eliminates most forms of bilingual education in California's public schools.
Learn More Here
The Story of Proposition 227
The debate continues
1999 – 43 states and the District of Columbia had laws providing for bilingual education & English-as-a-second-language (ESL) instruction.
Learn more here
2000 - and today - arguments about program type!
2000 – Arizona eliminated bilingual education (for an interesting update, check out this current 2020 debate!
Learn more about the push in Arizona to repeal
this law in 2022 here!
2001 - Colorado English for Children Initiative
The Colorado English for the Children Initiative: similar to Proposition 227 in California and Proposition 203 in Arizona. Eliminated bilingual education in Colorado's public schools.
2001 - No Child Left Behind Act
Under the No Child Left Behind Act - bilingual education was folded in and references to “bilingual education” were changed to “language instruction education program.” Bilingual education was turned into a state-administered formula-grant program.
NCLB required states and districts “to help ensure that children who are limited English proficient …attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic attainment in English, and meet the same challenging State academic standards as all children are expected to meet.”
Learn more about the “ESL Instruction Debate” here
2012 - Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
DACA was created on June 15, 2012, by then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Unlike federal legislation, DACA does not provide permanent legal status to individuals and must be renewed every two years.
What is DACA?
DACA 2022
On Aug. 30, 2022, DHS published the DACA Final Rule, with the intent to preserve and fortify the DACA policy.
This rule, which puts into effect regulations at 8 CFR 236.21-236.25, rescinds and replaces the DACA guidance set forth in the 2012 Memorandum issued by Secretary Napolitano.