You are,imo, absolutely right on the language issue. All of my great-grandparents came here not knowing how to speak English, and they all learned. I have a sister-in-law from Mexico who came not knowing any English. The first thing she did was go to school to learn, and within a year she was speaking very well. And another sister-in-law from Korea who came knowing little English. She also speaks very well. Both of my sisters-in-law think it is very important that their children go to school expecting to learn English as their primary language.
Another issue is the fact that many people who were born and raised in the USA are being denied jobs because they do not speak Spanish! This is backwards!