How California’s ban on bilingual education still hurts schools

It has been eight years since California voters repealed a 1998 law directing public school districts to essentially eliminate their bilingual programs. But the fallout from the state’s vacillating history of bilingual education has led to California falling short of providing a quality education not only to non-English speakers but also to students who want to be bilingual. 

As CalMatters higher education reporter Tara García Mathewson explains, in 1998 California voters approved a law requiring schools to teach classes only in English with students who were not fluent with the language, with few exceptions. Latino state lawmakers and teachers’ unions pushed to repeal that law, which voters did in 2016.

There are many benefits for schools to have bilingual education: It allows students who are not proficient in English to still be able to learn school subjects in their native language while they also learn English. Schools with strong dual-language programs, a type of bilingual instruction approach, also report better student outcomes, including higher test scores and graduation rates. And bilingual students develop strong cognitive skills and have more job opportunities.

But while both California and Texas each enroll more than 1 million students still learning English, California managed to put just 10% of them in bilingual classrooms last year — compared to 40% in Texas.

One reason for this lag is a lack of teachers. The 1998 law largely extinguished programs that could train teachers to lead bilingual K-12 classrooms.

• Patricia Gándara, a longtime bilingual education researcher and co-director of the UCLA Civil Rights Project: “(It’s) one of those stories of ‘I told you so.’ … I could see what the problem was going to be: That when people came back to their senses and realized what a mistake this was, the big fallout was going to be that we didn’t have the teachers.”

To enroll more students in bilingual education, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law this year requiring the education department to develop a plan for districts to adopt the state’s English Learner Roadmap. The Legislature also allocated in 2017 roughly $20 million to help districts prepare bilingual staffers to lead bilingual classrooms, and budgeted another $10 million in 2021 to start or expand dual-language programs.

But advocates say it’s not enough. In Massachusetts, for example, the Legislature budgeted $11.8 million for similar initiatives, though it enrolls about one-tenth the number of kids still learning English compared to California. 

• Anya Hurwitz, executive director of the bilingual education nonprofit SEAL: “Funding is not the solution to everything in and of itself. But at the same time, we can’t build capacity without funding and resources.”

For more on bilingual education in California, read Tara’s story. A Spanish-language version is also available and if you’re in a hurry, read just the three main takeaways.

In January, Gov. Newsom will unveil his initial state budget proposal and while advocacy groups want more revenue, there’s not a ton of money to go around: The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated a $2 billion budget shortfall next year.

Still, it never hurts to ask.

Business groups including manufacturers and the California Chamber of Commerce are urging Newsom to restore a tax credit for research and development that was limited in the 2024-25 state budget. The groups argue the tax credit is “crucial” for retaining and expanding jobs and businesses in California.

The groups’ letter notes that in 2021, the state had more than 700,000 jobs related to research and development, and that the tax credit will assist in California’s ambitions to invest in the artificial intelligence, chip and alternative energy industries. Thirty-four other states offer this tax credit, and the letter argues that the credit pays for itself with the economic benefits it generates.

The analyst’s office has warned against new spending commitments, but Newsom has already floated some pricey initiatives. For example, the governor wants to increase the state’s film and television tax credit to $750 million a year — a point the business group made in stressing that their research and development credit should be funded, too.

Lawmakers are also reconvening in January for a special session to consider Newsom’s proposal to allocate as much as $25 million to the state Department of Justice for potential legal battles with the incoming Donald Trump presidency.

In other Capitol news:

• Schiff appointed: On Sunday the governor formally appointed U.S. Sen.-elect Adam Schiff to complete the remaining term of the late Dianne Feinstein, who died in September 2023. Sen. Laphonza Butler had been temporarily filling in and gave her farewell remarks Thursday. Schiff, who also won a special election for the unexpired term, is to be sworn in today and gets a one-month head start before serving his full six-year term starting in January.

• Capitol building evacuated: The Capitol had a bit of a scare Friday, when authorities received a threat and had to evacuate staffers out of the state Capitol and two other state office buildings. After law enforcement determined the threat to be “unfounded,” the buildings were cleared to reopen later in the afternoon.

The voting, and the counting, is over. But the debate over voting access in California isn’t. 

CalMatters did a series of stories this year about Californians who still face barriers to exercising their voting rights, including those with visual impairments and eligible voters in county jails. The final story, which reported on the challenges faced by homeless individuals, pointed out that many didn’t get a say in policies that directly affect their lives and chronicled some of the efforts by advocates and counties to give them more ballot access.

Bolts, a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on voting rights and criminal justice, just followed up with a report focusing on Los Angeles, where voters approved a November ballot measure to double and extend a sales tax to fund homeless services and affordable housing, but also ousted District Attorney George Gascón for a more conservative prosecutor.

The Bolts story highlights that L.A. County’s unhoused population of more than 75,000 is bigger than most of the county’s 88 cities, but they are underrepresented at the ballot box. The story details a county program that brings pop-up polling places to homeless shelters and service providers.

• Angel Agabon, 24, who was recently homeless and voted for the first time this year at My Friend’s Place, a drop-in center in Hollywood for young people: “Voting is the least of their concerns. They don’t know where they’re going to stay tonight, they don’t know what they’re gonna eat, they don’t know when they’re next meal’s gonna be.”

The passage of Proposition 36 means there will be tougher penalties for repeat drug and theft offenders. CalMatters’ video strategy director Robert Meeks has a video segment on Nigel Duara and Joe Garcia’s story on the potential consequences of the measure as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.