California Brings Back Bilingual Education

The proposition overturns a 1998 law that required these students to be placed in English-only classes rather than bilingual ones. While some bilingual programs remained, this measure reduced the number of students who were in bilingual classes from 30 percent to 4 percent. Those opposed include the Republican Party and the businessman who originally created the law limiting bilingual education. Although the measure arose in part from immigrant resentment, the Los Angeles Times reports, it also sprung from a reaction to schools that failed to adequately teach Spanish-speaking students English, putting them behind for college and career readiness.