California Counts - Prop 58
About one in four public school students in California speak a language other than English at home. Nearly 20 years ago, California voters agreed that the best way to teach these students English was to do away with the existing bilingual education programs and immerse the student in English.
Now, Proposition 58 on the general election ballot would end the mandate on English-only education and make it easier for schools to start dual-language programs.
As part of our California Counts election coverage, KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez visited a school in San Gabriel where the current limits on bilingual education and the potential for multilingual education exist side-by-side.