The Fight for Bilingual Education and Women’s Rights in the 1960s and 1970s

The Civil Rights movement, during the 1960s and 1970s, created many

changes for both American society and its schools. The transformations were

the result of such movements as Bilingual Education, women’s’ rights activity,

and the passing of the Public Law 94-142 legislation. The incorporation of these

new laws and ideas into society all came with their own consequences. Each of

them helped, in some way, to lessen the inequality of minority groups in America,

like students whose primary language was not English, women, and

handicapped children. They also faced opposition by certain groups, who did not

feel that their inclusion in American life was necessary. Those fighting for the

minorities, though, were steadfast in their efforts, and made many successful

attempts.

The Bilingual Education movement in America began in the late 1960s. It

was made to be an important issue due to the fact that many Spanish-speaking

children were attending schools that only included the English language in their

curriculum. This resulted in low academic achievement rates for the students.

Bilingual education programs were developed to try to resolve this dilemma in

the American schools. In these programs, teaching was given in both Spanish

and English. Some attempts were eventually made to set a standard for the

bilingual education and make it a nationally recognized idea.

The Bilingual Education Act, passed by Congress in 1968, made an

approach to legitimize the instruction of non-English speaking children (U & W,

317). It did not set any standards though, so how well the act was observed was

basically left up to whose arguments were stronger--the opposers or the

defenders. The Supreme Court popularized the issue in 1974, in the Lau vs.

Nichols case. This case involved “Chinese American children in San Francisco

who spoke little or no English” (ibid.). Those fighting for the children wanted

them to receive extra attention in teaching English. After the Supreme Court

ruled in favor of the children, various proposals were given to attempt to solve

the problem.

The inclusion of bilingual education in America’s school’s curriculum

brought about different ideas on how to resolve the issue. The first of these

approaches suggested that there be a special cu...

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...ndicapped children. The officials believed

that Congress was violating the school system, by enacting educational

legislation, without providing a way to fund it. The parents were angered

because they felt that the handicapped children brought in to the classrooms

would take too much attention away from their children’s’ education. This issue

was never quite resolved with the legislation, and it still remains today.

The Bilingual Education movement, women’s rights activity, and Public

Law 94-142 are just a few of the ideas, movements, and acts of legislation that

produced changes in American society and the education system in the 1960s

and 1970s. Some, like bilingual education, affected what was taught in the

classroom. Others, like the women’s rights movement, and Public Law 94-142,

transformed the schools themselves, and also who was attending them. Each

included their own outcome and consequences when they were enacted.

The outcomes, in fact, have allowed for standards that exist in American schools

today. They will continue to thrive in our schools, only growing stronger in their

pursuit for equality.