Important ESOL Laws and Court Cases to Know
1964: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act: Title VI provided for alternative language programs (English as a Second Language) necessary support to ensure ELL students have meaningful access to the schools' programs and resources.
1968: The Bilingual Education Act: The first federal recognition that ELLs may have special educational needs. This act enforced equal educational opportunity supported by federal funding by creating bilingual programs that address those needs.
1970: The May 25th Memorandum: The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) issued a memorandum regarding the education of LEP children. School districts were informed that they must take steps to accomodate students' English language deficiencies. Students could not be placed in Special Education classes solely because they did not speak English. School districts were made responsible for notifying parents or guardians in languages other than English concerning school activities.
1974: Lau v. Nichols: This suit by Chinese parents leads to the ruling that identical education does not constitute to equal education under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. School disctricts must take affirmative steps to overcome educational barriers faced by non-English speakers. This ruling established that the Office of Civil Rights, under the former Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, has the authority to establish regulations for Title VI enforcement.
1978: The Education Amendments: The amendments expanded the term limited English proficient (LEP) to include students with sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language" (O’Brien-Merrill, 1999).
1981: The Castenada v. Pickard Case of Raymondville, TX: The ruling in the Castenada v. Pickard case stated that schools must have a implemented, evaluated, and adapted program for LEP students based on a legitimate foundation. Documentation of student growth and accommodations provided for the program to be qualified as acceptable. The “Castañeda test” includes the following criteria: (1) Theory: The school must pursue a program based on an educational theory recognized as sound or, at least, as a legitimate experimental strategy; (2) Practice: The school must actually implement the program with instructional practices, resources, and personnel necessary to transfer theory to reality; (3) Results: The school must not persist in a program that fails to produce results.
1982: Plyer v. Doe: Under the fourteenth Amendent of the U.S. Constitution, the state does not have the right to deny a free public education to undocumented immigrant children.
1988: Amendments to Title VII : include increased funding to state education agencies,expanded funding for “special alternative” programs where only English is used, a three-year limit on participation in most Title VII, and the creation of fellowship programs for professional training.
1994: Comprehensive educational reforms entail reconfiguration of Title VII programs.: New provisions reinforce professional development programs, increased attention to language maintenance and foreign language instruction, improve research and evaluation at state and local level, supply additional funds for immigrant education, and allow participation of some private school students.
2001: No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB): The re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, appropriates funds to states to improve the education of limited English proficient students by assisting children to learn English and meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards. Legislation for limited English proficient students is found under Title III of NCLB.
Links for more information about laws and important ESOL court cases:
http://www.colorincolorado.org/policy/legislation/federal/#history
http://www.colorincolorado.org/policy/court/
https://ed.sc.gov/agency/programs-services/90/TitleIIILawandGuidance.cfm
