Free Republic

After more than 11 years in Los Angeles public schools, Dasha Cifuentes still isn't speaking or writing English at grade level. The U.S. native, whose parents are Mexican immigrants, was raised in a Spanish-speaking household and she acknowledges that the two languages get confused in her mind. "I should be more confident in English because I was born here, but I'm embarrassed that I haven't improved myself," said Dasha, a junior at Fairfax High. Now, however, she and other students like her are receiving more attention under a new state law and initiatives by L.A. Unified and other school districts....

Buffalo public schools provide inconsistent, inadequate and inequitable services to students who speak English as their second language, according to a scathing report recently released to the administration and Board of Education. The city's rapidly growing student population of recent immigrants and refugees — now numbering more than 3,000 — has historically been "largely invisible" in Buffalo schools, the report contends. "The school system didn't seem to notice they were here, didn't think to modify an otherwise successful program to ensure that these newcomers could succeed, and didn't create an effective system to reach out to those communities," states the...

Since Arizona’s local law enforcement began enforcing illegal immigration laws and an employer sanctions law went into effect, illegal immigrants have been fleeing the state in large numbers. The effects have been far-ranging. Commuters are reporting fewer vehicles on the freeways, shortening their rush-hour commutes. What had become a serious transportation problem in Arizona is losing its urgency. English Learner Language (ELL) students started dropping out of school. This helped end a confrontation between the state legislature and a liberal federal judge who had ordered the state to spend more money on ELL classes. Fewer illegal immigrants are using hospital...