Politically, the issue has surfaced primarily in two ways: efforts by some advocates to adopt English as an official language and thus in some way to limit government usage of other languages, and efforts in some states to curtail the use of bilingual education.

The most recent test of U.S. attitudes on the latter issue came in the November 2002 election to sharply limit the use of bilingual education, where non-English-speaking students learn subjects in their native languages (usually Spanish) while learning English in separate classes. As it turned out, voters split on the issue — voters in the Bay State by about a 2-1 margin approved the measure, which is designed to put most non-English-speaking students in English-only classes. Colorado voters, however, rejected a similar proposal.

In their decision, Massachusetts voters followed the lead of voters in California and Arizona, where similar measures were approved in 1998 and 2000, respectively. The Colorado vote marked the first ballot setback for the English immersion movement.

Generally, those who oppose bilingual education are also advocates of "English only" legislation. Those on the other side sometimes accuse the English immersion advocates of xenophobia and sometimes even racism, but such allegations aren't always fair. In Massachusetts, for example, the Latino community was divided on the issue. In some circles, the dispute doesn't appear to be whether immigrants should learn English, but how; the issue becomes one of trust in professional educators, who have tended to side with bilingual education, versus those who look somewhat nostalgically on the "sink or swim" approach used by immigrants to learning English decades ago.

In both California and Arizona, which have especially high Spanish-speaking populations, the measures to curtail bilingual education have had mixed results. Neither outlawed bilingual education per se, but instead strongly encouraged school officials to immerse children in an English-only environment. Particularly in California, the mandate has been resisted by educators, who fear that the "sink or swim" approach to learning English will be frustrating to students and increase the dropout rate. According to opponents of bilingual education, some 150,000 California students remain in bilingual programs despite the law.

The measures on the Colorado and Massachusetts ballots — they were financially backed by Ron Unz, a Californian and millionaire software developer — included a provision apparently designed to indirectly punish educators who resist. It would allow students who later claimed they didn't learn English well to sue teachers and administrators, holding them personally liable if they kept the students in a bilingual program. Massachusetts' governor-elect, Mitt Romney, said during the campaign that he backed efforts to curtail bilingual education but didn't support making educators personally liable for students' failure to learn English adequately.

Note: This article was last updated on November 6, 2002.