Proposition 227 was approved by Californians in June 1998. In essence, the voters amended the state constitution to outlaw bilingual education. This use of political power was used to solve technical arguments over language instruction for limited English proficiency (LEP) students. This article creates a framework for analyzing the politics of language development research and school program implementation. The model is then applied to language development programs in a large Southern California school district. The educational and political implications of the model and its application to Proposition 227 are discussed.
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