ABSTRACT
Political events in California often have repercussions for the rest of the nation. Recently, California has been the site of intense legal battles over the education of its English learners, and events in the state have already affected a number of other states with large populations of English learners. This chapter offers a history of the politics and policies that have governed the education of English learners in the state over the last several decades. It reviews the effects of the most recent legal skirmish over limited-English-proficient students and predicts short- and longer-term outcomes that may result both for California and for the nation. Finally, the chapter looks to the future of education for English learners and suggests critical areas of research that may aid in constructing more enlightened educational policies for these students.
