The Bilingual Education Act, Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1968 (or BEA) was the first piece of United States federal legislation that recognized the needs of Limited English Speaking Ability (LESA) students. The BEA was introduced in 1967 by Texas senator Ralph Yarborough and was later signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 2, 1968. As such, it was the first federal legislation signed into law in the 1968 calendar year. The bill was passed as Title VII, an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). While many states such as California and Texas already had local and state policies to help language minority students, the BEA established the first federal policy aiding LESA students. Passed on the heels of the Civil Rights movement, its purpose was to provide school districts with federal funds, in the form of competitive grants, to establish innovative educational programs for students with limited English speaking ability. While the BEA addressed all linguistic minorities in the country, the passage of the act was spearheaded by Spanish speakers.
Read more about Bilingual Education Act: Cultural Implications, Implementation and Funding, Significant Court Decisions, The Bilingual Education Act and No Child Left Behind
Famous quotes containing the words education and/or act:
“To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil’s soul. To Miss Mackay it is a putting in of something that is not there, and that is not what I call education, I call it intrusion.”
—Muriel Spark (b. 1918)
“The moment the very name of Ireland is mentioned, the English seem to bid adieu to common feeling, common prudence, and common sense, and to act with the barbarity of tyrants, and the fatuity of idiots.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)