ABSTRACT
Many make the trip every year - a reality well known to teachers and administrators of schools in Puerto Rican neighbourhoods on the mainland where the turnover of students in a single academic year may approach one hundred percent. The triumph of monolingual territoriality in Puerto Rico at a time when mass migration to the mainland was just beginning has had consequences for mainland schools over and above the obvious consequence of the need to accommodate large numbers of monolingual Hispanic children. The dilemma posed by bilingual education for Puerto Ricans is not always apparent. If, however, language maintenance is indeed a covert goal, this dilemma is real. Indeed, officials at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund which now monitors the Consent Decree are certain that eligible students may still be overlooked.
