The Provision of an Equal Education Opportunity to Limited-English Proficient Students

The Provision of an Equal Education Opportunity to Limited-English Proficient Students

 U.S. Department of EducationOffice for Civil Rights
Washington, DC 20202-1328

Revised August 2000

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, there has been a surge of immigrants with limited English language skills to the United States. In addition, many children of immigrant parents and children who are Native American and Alaskan Native enter school with limited ability to learn in English. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) estimates that there are 2.4 million national-origin minority school children who have limited English language skills which affect their ability to participate effectively in education programs and achieve high academic standards.

The insufficient English language proficiency of these students often results in classroom failure and school drop-out. Many students either are ill-equipped for higher education or lack the required skills to obtain productive employment. To resolve these problems, students must have an equal opportunity to benefit from education programs offered by their school districts.

TITLE VI REQUIREMENTS

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within ED has responsibility for enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

School districts receiving federal financial assistance may not, on the basis of race, color, or national origin:

	provide services, financial aid, or other benefits that are different or provide them in a different manner;
	restrict an individual's enjoyment of an advantage or privilege enjoyed by others;
	deny an individual the right to participate in federally assisted programs; and
	defeat or substantially impair the objectives of federally assisted programs.

These Title VI regulatory requirements have been interpreted to prohibit denial of equal access to education because of a student's limited proficiency in English. Title VI protects students who are so limited in their English language skills that they are unable to participate in or benefit from regular or special education instructional programs.

OCR TITLE VI POLICY ON LANGUAGE MINORITY STUDENTS

During the late 1960s, OCR staff became aware that many school districts made little or no provision for students who were unable to understand English, even though there were substantial numbers of these students enrolled in their districts.

In an effort to resolve this problem, in 1970, OCR issued a memorandum to school districts titled the Identification of Discrimination and Denial of Services on the Basis of National Origin. The purpose of the memorandum was to clarify Title VI requirements concerning school districts' responsibility to provide equal education opportunity to language-minority students.