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The Mendez family sued Orange County, California to allow their Mexican-American children to attend a non-segregated school.

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The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the previous judge's ruling that segregating Mexican children was detrimental to the students and that the law did not permit segregation based on Mexican ancestry.

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Mendez v. Westminster was the first case in the United States to directly address segregation, and many arguments from this case would later be used successfully in Brown v. Board of Education. For ELs, findings that that separating non-English speakers from their English speaking peers had a negative effect on their education would help to inform future decisions about integrated classes and schools.

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These memoranda attempt to clarify previous legislation, and provide Office of Civil Rights informed best practices for EL instruction. OCR Memorandum from 1991 gives step by step information on the "Castaneda Test" for EL programs, as well as addressing concerns of EL (LEP in the memorandum) segregation.

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A Lutheran teacher, Myer, was convicted under a Nebraska law forbidding the teaching of any non-English language to students below the eighth grade. He appealed the conviction under the Fourteenth Amendment, right to due process.

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A group of Chinese students brought suit against the state of California for lack of access to education, because their classes were taught in English rather than Chinese.

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The ESEA was passed as part of Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, due to his belief that education would combat poverty and federal oversight was required to ensure educational access for all Americans.

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Castaneda sued Raymondville, Texas for placing his children in a classroom segregated by language ability without providing adequate supports for ELs to reenter the mainstream educational system.

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This Act was intended to ensure equitable access to federally funded public education for all students in the United States, without segregation or exclusion.

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In California, Proposition 227 sought to push English-only instruction for ELs, requiring a one-year English immersion program before transitioning to mainstream English classrooms (Mometrix, p. 89). Similar propositions in other states sought to reduce achievement gaps between ELs and non-ELs by eliminating bilingual education.

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A Texas law preventing schools from accessing funds for the education of undocumented children was challenged under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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This update and continuance of the ESEA Act of 1965 includes standards for accountability, teacher certification, and standardized testing which impacted all students. Specifically, Title III of this act provides unique standards and funding specifications for ELs.

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ESSA is a revision of the NCLB Act which returns some authority for accountability to the states, rather than the federal government. It relaxes some of the strict standards imposed under NCLB, while incorporating EL English proficiency growth as a measure of school success.

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The Supreme Court found in favor of Myer and ruled that a law prohibiting language instruction was unconstitutional.

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Based on the Civil Rights Act of 1965, the Supreme Court ruled that any schools which receive federal funding must provide instruction in the English language for any student lacking proficiency in English. This decision placed the obligation on schools to "take affirmative steps to overcome educational barriers" (Colorín Colorado) that might confront ELs.

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This act "redefined the federal government's role in education, providing for dramatic increases in federal funding, as well as standards for equal access, educational achievement, and accountability." (Mometrix, p. 88)

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This act established policy for the education of bilingual students, and allocated federal funds for education specific to ELs at a district level. Additionally, this act emphasized EL rights as separate from racial discrimination.

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The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that Raymondville was not in compliance with the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, and created the "Castaneda Test" for EEOA compliance by school districts. This test includes theory, practice, and results, and is considered one of the most significant EL legislations because of its far reaching effects.

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Research into results of the English Only movement gives little clarity regarding its effectiveness (Colorín Colorado). In 2017, California passed Proposition 58, repealing Proposition 227 and allowing schools to make their own decisions about how best to help ELs achieve English proficiency and equal access to education.

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The Supreme Court found the Texas law unconstitutional, and ruled that children eligible for grades K-12 cannot be denied an education due to their immigrant status. This ruling does not apply to college or university attendance.

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The NCLB Act, and specifically Title III, provides EL-specific funding and standards, including both English proficiency and content standards for ELs.

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This case illustrated the intensity and the xenophobic roots of the "English Only" movement, and also provides a clear legal background protecting the constitutional rights of parents and students. States may not ban the teaching of non-English languages in schools.

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The ESEA served as the foundational legislation for federal oversight of public education, which would include ELs, and Title VII of this legislation, the Bilingual Education Act, would further clarify and specify the rights of ELs.

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The Bilingual Education Act was one of the first federal legislations to provide financial and legal support for EL education.

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The OCR Memorandum confirms the rights of EL students under the Civil Rights Act of 1965, and continues to require a high standard of instruction under the law.

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Because of Castañeda v. Pickard, schools with ELs are required to meet specific criteria for English Language Learner programs. Schools must use a program based in sound educational practice (theory); must implement the program in a meaningful and thorough manner (practice); and must be able to demonstrate student achievement and growth (results). These standards provide a framework for EL programs across the United States, and represent important rights for EL students and families.

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This act specifically requires schools to provide equal access to education for ELs. The law protects their right to an education and places the responsibility on the school to take "to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by students in their instructional programs" (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014).

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This ongoing debate regarding best practices for EL instruction is one that challenges politicians, educators, and families alike. Much more research is needed, and it is important to find sources of empirical data which can be leveraged to create lasting, effective legislation.

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Students without immigration paperwork or other documentation are entitled to a public education under this ruling. Citizenship is not required to attend public schools in the United States.

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The required reporting, testing, and monitoring through annual measurable achievement objectives (AMAO) required by NCLB has shaped EL educational initiatives throughout the country. Many schools have contested the Title III requirements as unreasonable or ineffectively funded (Mometrix, p. 88).

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A significant impact of ESSA on ELs is the inclusion of EL performance as a criterion for Title I funding. This attempt to raise awareness of EL needs has been criticized as potentially minimizing EL student needs in a sea of Title I demands (Mometrix, p. 89). Additionally, states have been given more authority to determine what approaches are most effective and what measurements will be used to demonstrate EL progress. This means that programs may vary widely from state to state or district to district.

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Colorín Colorado. (2015, December 1). A chronology of federal law and policy impacting language minority students. Colorín Colorado. Retrieved August 31, 2022, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/chronology-federal-law-and-policy-impacting-language-minority-students

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Mendez v Westminster: Paving the way to school desegregation. Constitutional Rights Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2022, from https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-23-2-c-mendez-v-westminster-paving-the-way-to-school-desegregation#:~:text=The%20school%20boards%20decided%20against,California%20under%20its%20current%20laws.

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Mometrix. (2021). Praxis English to speakers of other languages (2nd ed.). Mometrix Media LLC.

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U.S. Department of Justice/U.S. Department of Education. (2014) Dear Colleague Letter: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-el-201501.pdf