Lau v. Nichols Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lau v. Nichols - Essay Example The situation was then addressed in Lau v. Nichols, which was instituted in 1974 as a remedy, but the decision did not specify a teaching method, and the approach could be "bilingual instruction, English as a second language (ESL) classes or some other approach" (Crawford, para. 1). This broad interpretation has caused a great deal of controversy over the years. Lau was intended to give limited-English-proficient students (LEP) the opportunity to gain the proficiency they needed, but, unfortunately, according to Crawford, a symposium held twenty years after Lau indicates there has been little improvement in the effort to create equity for LEP students. Without one specific method of teaching LEP students, the effort becomes lost, with well-designed programs staffed by qualified teachers available to only a fraction of LEP students. The term "bilingual education" has come to mean a "range of instructional programs for children whose native language is not English," while the best way to accommodate such children has been and continues to be an area of debate. As noted in a research project by the Westchester Institute in New York, the debate centers on the "role of native language in instruction-whether it should be used and for how long" (Westchester, para. 3). Supporters of native language instruction recommend aggressive development of the primary language prior to introduction of English, while proponents of all-English instruction feel that the English curriculum should be introduced at the very beginning of the student's school experience with minimal use of the native language (Westchester). English Immersion in California Public Schools If the use of bilingual education actually meant learning two languages equally well, it might be a feasible program for all students, not just LEP students. Unfortunately, the concept has not been incorporated in public schools, and according to Ron Unz, advocate of English-only instruction, what is called bilingual education actually consists of mostly Spanish language instructions with little English incorporated into teaching. Since over half of America's LED students were born in the United States with most of the remainder coming here at a young age, the argument that older students have a more difficult time learning English covers only a small percentage of LED students (Sailer). Comparing the English immersion program with the bilingual program, English-only instruction would appear to be more successful, not because it is necessarily a better program but because the bilingual method is not being well utilized. Respected author Maxine Hong Kingston was born in California and in her biographical novel Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, she recognizes the language and cultural barriers she faced during her childhood. She attended both public school and Chinese school, and her family mostly consisted of Chinese immigrants, who labeled anyone not Chinese as "ghosts." The idea of a bilingual education at that time did not exist, and Kingston had to learn English in order to communicate with English-speaking students, teachers, and business people. Even so, for her, the cultural barriers were far more difficult to overcome. Propositions 227 and 203 Proposition 227, passed in 1998,

Affordable Care Act in United States Research Paper

Affordable Care Act in United States - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that the main idea of health care is to improve and reform health care which is of great concern to individuals. Despite how much one is earning in America, there is the need for one to set aside a particular budget that can be used when one is in poor health and thus the aim of Affordable Care Act. Insurance coverage in the companies are of benefit to individuals who work in the factories and other companies since in case of an accident or any other issue related to one health, then the insurance partners can intervene and medical expenses are covered by the insurance company or the use of Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act was signed into a law by President Obama in 2010 in United States federal statute where the government had to work along with health care and education reconciliation act to represent the United States interest in health care issues. The aim of Affordable Care Act is to increases the quality and affordability of healthcare making sure that those who do not have insurance coverage can get access to health insurance and thus expand public and private insurance coverage for the United States residents. The policy aims at lowering the cost of healthcare for individuals and the government as a whole where the government will have the mandate to make sure that all the residents in the United States will have the insurance coverage, subsidies will be available and insurance exchanges that are meant to increase the insurance coverage at affordable rates. The policy requires all the insurance companies to make sure that all residents are covered with minimum standards regardless of preexisting conditions or sex. The policy requires an individual to be covered by insurance from the employer-sponsored health plan and this means that one will have two insurance coverage. Failure to pay an approved insurance policy will mean that an individual will pay a penalty of 1% on income tax and thus the residents must comply with the Affordable Care Act. The policy aim is to get more than 30 million people who are going to be enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. The policy also requires low-income earners and those families with incomes between 100% to 400% federal poverty level will be considered and thus they are going to receive federal subsidies and only if the mode of purchase is through an exchange.