Legislation

Federal Legislation

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 provides for strong accountability for the education of all children and for certain provisions specific to limited English proficient students, especially under Titles I and III of the Act. NCLB also provides funds to states and local schools and universities to carry out the intent of the Act.
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html (full text)
http://www.ed.gov/nclb/ (U.S. Department of Education’s official NCLB Web site)

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin (and other civil rights).
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/cor/coord/titlevistat.htm (full text)

Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974 requires schools to “take appropriate steps” to assure equal access as stipulated in the Lau opinion below.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/education.html (full text)

Court Decisions

Lau vs. Nichols (1974) ruled that providing the same access to curriculum, instruction, and materials for students of limited English proficiency as are provided to English dominant students is not in effect equitable.
opinion)

Plyler vs. Doe (1981) ruled that all students in public schools must be appropriately served, including any students who may not be documented as legal immigrants.

Castañeda vs. Pickard (1981) case precedent requires schools to use a three-pronged approach to assure that they are following the spirit of the above decisions vis-à-vis: a practice grounded in sound educational theory; effective implementation of an appropriate program; assurance that the program is working through an evaluation and subsequent program modification to meet this requirement.

Executive Order 13166: Improving Access to Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency (2000) Requires Federal agencies to examine the services they provide, identify any need for services to those with limited English proficiency (LEP), and develop and implement a system to provide those services so LEP persons can have meaningful access to them. http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/cor/13166.htm