Do you support or oppose bilingual education in publicly funded schools? Why? What will be an ...

In bilingual/bicultural education, students are taught wholly or partly in their native language until they can speak English fairly fluently, and in some cases longer. One side argues that preserving the culture and language of minorities is a worthwhile (or essential) goal of public education. The opposing side believes that minority students will be best prepared to compete effectively in American society if they are immersed in English-language instruction; moreover, bilingual education is expensive and reinforces separateness because it is a factor in keeping people of color living in ethnic communities.

There is controversy in some districts about whether to promote, or discourage, bilingual education for students whose primary language is not English. For Latinos, bilingual/bicultural education is an issue of intense debate. A few years ago, California banned bilingual education in any publicly funded school. Latino students must now be taught exclusively in English even if they do not understand it.