Dual Language in the Desert: California Schools Explore the Potential of New Bilingual Opportunities
After nearly twenty years of mandatory English-only education, California鈥檚 bilingual schools are growing because of family demand.
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鈥�Yo me siento muy feliz porque yo hace mi proyecto,鈥� says a small blond third grader, sitting on the carpet (鈥淚 feel very happy because I does my project.鈥�)
鈥�Hice mi proyecto,鈥� corrects teacher Maria Lomeli, speaking through a microphone linked to speakers set off to the side of the gathering (鈥淚 did my project鈥�).
It鈥檚 a calm start to the 100th day of school at Desert Sands Unified School District鈥檚 Ronald Reagan Elementary, in Palm Desert, California. It鈥檚 Lomeli鈥檚 fifth year working on campus, and she has the classroom set up to foster a tranquil atmosphere. As students share how they鈥檙e feeling that day, the speakers play gentle piano music overlaid with nature sounds鈥攃hirping birds and rustling leaves.
Relaxed, untroubled, and bilingual鈥攊t鈥檚 remarkable, particularly in the context of California鈥檚 history of roiling language education politics. From 1998 to 2016, Lomeli鈥檚 peaceful bilingual classroom would likely have been illicit, framed by political pressures, and鈥攁bove all鈥�.
For most of the past thirty years, English-only advocates waged a pitched battle to prevent schools from offering bilingual education to the state鈥檚 English learners (ELs). In 1998, conservative activists鈥斺�攊mposed an English-only mandate on the state鈥檚 K鈥�12 schools, arguing that bilingual education was ineffective at advancing ELs鈥� linguistic and academic development.
that schools鈥� cultivation of non-English languages separated children from their English-dominant peers and slowed immigrant childrens鈥� integration into their schools and broader society. Jaime Escalante, the Los Angeles teacher whose work inspired the movie Stand and Deliver, , arguing that 鈥淐alifornia schools [were] forced to use bilingual education despite parental opposition鈥� in the years before the English-only mandate.
Nonetheless, on California鈥檚 English-only experiment were largely . That鈥檚 why, in 2016, voters repealed the statewide mandate imposing English-only education. Since then, California schools have鈥斺�攂egun to rebuild a new, multilingual K鈥�12 system. This time, the state is growing a wide variety of bilingual programs鈥攊ncluding popular dual language immersion (DLI) models鈥攖o appeal to a range of priorities from different families, regardless of the languages they speak at home.
Perhaps Lomeli鈥檚 classroom鈥檚 pervasive calm stems from that change鈥攂ilingual learning opportunities are now offered as an option for families to choose, rather than as a blanket mandate. Career educator Daniel Salinero, in his fourth year as a first grade teacher at Reagan, thinks so. 鈥淥ne of the differences between now and the ’90s, when I taught in bilingual ed,鈥� he says, 鈥淏ack then, they were kind of funneled that way. Here, the parents want their child in the program.鈥�
There are good reasons for families to choose DLI, a version of bilingual education where students learn academic content in both languages and proficiency in both languages is a key goal. these programs are the most effective way for schools to support ELs鈥攑articularly when they are linguistically balanced, enrolling native speakers of both languages. In California鈥斺�攎any English-dominant families are also attracted by the possibility of raising their children bilingually.
Desert Sands launched its DLI programs in 2019 as a way to better serve its ELs鈥攚ho make up . Meanwhile, at Jackson Elementary, the district鈥檚 other DLI program, who speak Spanish at home.
The first year was rocky鈥攕tandard issue for the implementation of any new educational program鈥攂ut the pandemic dramatically raised the difficulty of teachers鈥� work. 鈥淚 transferred from a school where I was teaching fourth- and fifth-grade to Spanish-speaking students to [here], where I was teaching kindergarten to non-Spanish speakers who had no clue what I was saying,鈥� says Lomeli. 鈥淎nd then we had to close and I had to teach online and鈥︹��
She trails off. Salinero offers, 鈥淚t got worse.鈥�
But as the pandemic wound down and campuses reopened, Desert Sands鈥� DLI programs moved towards full implementation, growing by one grade each fall. The kindergarteners who inaugurated the program in 2019 will round out their elementary school years as increasingly bilingual fifth-graders at the end of the 2024鈥�25 year.
鈥淚 think also what has helped a lot is the parental support,鈥� says Reagan first-grade teacher Juan Gutierrez. 鈥淲e’re very lucky to have that. All the parents are very invested鈥hey want the kids to be in the program. It’s not like the students are being chosen by the school. The parents are, like, actively seeking the dual language program so their kids can become bilingual and biliterate.鈥�
Desert Sands leaders say that this is one of the virtues of California鈥檚 new, burgeoning bilingual education moment: it gives families the chance to opt into bilingual or DLI programs on the strength of these programs鈥� many virtues. The district aims for diverse, balanced DLI campuses with one-third of students who are Spanish-dominant, one-third who are English-dominant, and one-third who arrive in kindergarten with emerging bilingual proficiencies in both languages.
This is an achievable goal here, in Riverside County, where speak a non-English language at home. This is also DLI operating precisely as promised. , there is real potential in presenting 鈥渃ulture and language as assets for children and families, two languages as better than one, and cross-cultural competencies as necessary for all students in a 21st-century global society.鈥� By making bilingual programs a choice available to families of linguistically varied backgrounds, rather than a mandatory assignment, state and local education leaders have broadened the base of political support for bilingualism.
That approach is creating calm classrooms like Lomeli鈥檚, but it also carries costs. Foremost among them: the state鈥檚 bilingual teaching force shrank considerably during its English-only period, and it has . This makes it difficult to rapidly regrow the state鈥檚 bilingual and DLI classrooms. The resulting scarcity of bilingual seats produces a challenge: when districts make room for English-dominant families in their DLI programs, they may inadvertently reduce English learners鈥� access鈥攁nd key opportunities to develop their emerging bilingualism.
鈥淲e have a diverse population,鈥� says Salinero, 鈥渨e have native Spanish-speakers and native English-speakers, and they have different needs and they bounce ideas off of each other.鈥� By clarifying local priorities from the start in its and insisting on treating Spanish proficiency and English proficiency alike as valuable assets, the district is taking advantage of new terrain California voters opened up in 2016.
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Conor P. Williams is a researcher based in Washington, D.C. He was previously a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, the founding director of New America's Dual Language Learners National Work Group and a first-grade public school teacher in Brooklyn. He holds a Ph.D. in government from Georgetown University, a master鈥檚 in science for teachers from Pace University and a B.A. in government and Spanish from Bowdoin College.
