Primary Language Support in an Era of Educational Reform.

Second language learners continue to languish in California public schools in spite of six years of promises following passage of the controversial ballot initiative English for the Children (Proposition 227) to fix the education of English Language Learners (ELLs) through English-only instruction. The unrealistic expectation established by supporters of the proposition that students possessing a heritage language could learn English in one year in segregated settings and succeed academically soon thereafter is largely unfulfilled as scores of second language learners are experiencing an irrelevant curriculum devoid of the “funds of knowledge” that children bring into the classroom. Recently, in California, with the development of new standards for teacher preparation programs following the Senate Bill 2042 legislation, it is likely that the curriculum and instructional practices for heritage language students will become even more disconnected from the lived