Supreme Court Upholds Students' Rights to Learn English
July 7, 2009 – On June 25, 2009, the Supreme Court decided Horne v. Flores, a case involving the education of English Language Learner (ELL) students in Arizona public schools. The Court rejected a challenge by Arizona’s Superintendent and others seeking to diminish the State’s role in affording ELL students the opportunity to learn English. The defendants had argued that the State’s compliance under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) amounted to compliance under the EEOA, but the Court instead held that compliance under NCLB is not determinative and remanded the issue.
In support of the plaintiffs in this case, MALDEF and other national civil rights groups submitted an Amicus Brief and argued that Congress never intended to absolve a State of its responsibilities under the EEOA. The Court agreed. .
Click here for an analysis of the decision.