As noted, they represent the best of both worlds and are not the norm, but with Simona’s passion and drive, she has shown us that our voices DO matter.

Thank you / Gracias for a series well done!

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I’ve known of some parents who have raised money to send interested school board members to the yearly “2Way Cabe” conferences for dual language programs that takes place each July. Other parents I have met have also organized politically in their local communities and worked to elect school board members who support dual language programs. It starts at the top and the school board can either make or break programs. Even when you have a dual language program in your local district, you’ve always got to keep tabs on what is happening with school board elections because the slightest changes to the school board can impact bilingual programs.

In school districts with dual language programs, it also might help to have a bilingual/bicultural policy/ordinance formally adopted by the school board to be adopted and written into district policy. The school board in the San Bernardino City Unified School District in Southern California adopted a formal policy statement that all children have the right to be bilingual.

A great resource is 2way cabe in California, a part of the California Association of Bilingual Education which pertains specifically to Dual Immersion programs. There are various states who are beginning to have similar organizations. In the past they have always been ready and willing to send representatives to make presentations to school board members.

Another suggestion is to contact coordinators of dual language programs that are listed on the Center for Applied Linguistics website. Many of the coordinators are willing to help parents from other districts. If you find a coordinator who is not willing to help, keep trying.

For people specifically in California, the Center for Applied Linguistic’s data base is not updated as frequently as the California Department of Education’s directory site, which can be found here: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/ip/
Sometimes certain schools don’t send in their updated information, so it would also help to do a search in your local newspapers to find programs that might not be located in the directories.

Another excellent resource for dual

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