Equal Opportunity for Bilingual Handicapped Students: A Legal Historical Perspective

The last three decades have produced considerable activity in the nation’s courts and in the U.S. Congress regarding policy in special education and bilingual education, including landmark court decisions, major pieces of legislation, as well as recent retrenchment in bilingual education. As a result, educational policy in both bilingual and special education has undergone significant change. The initial thrust of this change resulted in new and expanded federally mandated educational services for handicapped students and for students who were limited-English speaking. Most recently, there has been considerable “backlash” to bilingual education, which has directly affected the direction of policy in this area. This paper provides an analysis of the major legislative and litigative changes in bilingual and special education and the impact that these changes have had on handicapped students who are limited-English speaking. The analysis will illuminate some of the forces operating to bring about the specific legal changes that occurred.