Which case established protection for language use for people who speak languages other than English?

Which case established protection for language use for people who speak languages other than English?

• A. Brown v. Board of Education
• B. Plessy v. Ferguson
• C. Meyer v. Nebraska
• D. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Answer: (C)

Language rights in education are protected when families have a say in how their children learn and when students can engage with languages beyond English. Meyer v. Nebraska (1919) struck down a state law that barred teaching modern foreign languages to schoolchildren, ruling that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause by infringing on parents’ authority over their children’s education and on the child’s opportunity to learn. This decision established that states cannot broadly restrict language instruction or suppress language use in schools, reinforcing the idea that learning languages other than English is a legitimate and protected part of education. In practice, this supports bilingual and language-maintenance efforts in schools. The other cases involve desegregation or admissions, not language rights in schooling.

Language rights in education are protected when families have a say in how their children learn and when students can engage with languages beyond English. Meyer v. Nebraska (1919) struck down a state law that barred teaching modern foreign languages to schoolchildren, ruling that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause by infringing on parents’ authority over their children’s education and on the child’s opportunity to learn. This decision established that states cannot broadly restrict language instruction or suppress language use in schools, reinforcing the idea that learning languages other than English is a legitimate and protected part of education. In practice, this supports bilingual and language-maintenance efforts in schools. The other cases involve desegregation or admissions, not language rights in schooling.