Why schools are rushing to hire more bilingual teachers

As more and more students who don’t speak English register for public school this summer, school districts across the country are racing to hire bilingual teachers, and sometimes looking abroad for candidates.

The number of English Language Learners (a broader group that includes English as a Second Language students) in the U.S. has risen from about five percent of all K-12 public school students in 1990 to more than 10 percent of students today. Of those ELL students, 71 percent speak Spanish, according to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute.

A landmark 1974 Supreme Court case found that public schools are required to accommodate all students who don’t speak English. According to federal regulations, any grade with at least 20 percent of students who aren’t native English speakers must provide some form of bilingual instruction. But for decades, schools in many states haven’t had the funding to meet that requirement.

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