Bilingual education is vital to the maintenance of the United States being an international superpower. Educational instruction in two differing languages is a necessary component of curriculum for all students pursuing how to speak, read, and write English efficiently. Such programs have a fundamental goal of accommodating non-English speaking students until they are able to fully participate in a class solely taught in English. Additionally, children whom already know English well should be taught another language so that they are not being confined and have the ability to advance. Without incorporation of bilingual education into the United States’ curriculum, students are being deprived from multicultural knowledge and led down a pathway to never advance. Eliminating existing communication barriers may be the pathway that leads to a clearer understanding of the multifaceted perspectives that are spread throughout every country. While the topic continues to provoke fierce debate, it remains evident that bilingual education is a common ground between native tongue and the English language.

According to research, the impact of the lack of bilingual programs in schools will be evident in the future if domestic policy does not change. For example, a study completed by the Federal Association of Teachers concluded that a total 60 percent of emergent bilinguals are taught in English-only programs. Of that percent, 12 percent receive no additional
support or resources in learning English (Bale 2010). Furthermore, this means that more than half of children that should be prospective bilingual students are educated in a
language they do not understand. It has become common today to dismiss the needs of others if someone is not in a relatable situation. Although, Bruce Gaarder, a specialist in foreign languages with the U.S. Office of Education, spoke a valid point when he said:

The greatest barrier to the Mexican-American child's scholastic achievement...is that the schools, reflecting the dominant culture, want the child to grow up as another Anglo. This he cannot do except by denying himself and his family and his forebears, a form of masochism which no society should demand of its children. (Bale 2010)

Our country’s future stands in jeopardy, as a portion of our nation’s youth is not receiving an adequate education. Meanwhile, children are put in a disheartening situation because not only do bilinguals have access to the varying cultures associated with the languages they speak, but also language skills tend to assist these students in recognizing and accepting human diversity (Bale 2010). By not having sufficient bilingual education programs in the United States, the educational capabilities of non-English speaking children are being severely limited. With the right education, bilingual students would be more globalized than the average person who speaks English only. By understanding that there are multiple ways to say similar things, students who are bilingual have been proven to be more mindful towards others during any given situation. According to Bale (2010), “bilinguals have been shown to be more flexible in their thinking and more adept at thinking about how they use language to get their point across” (p. 1). Application of bilingual education in schools has been found to be effective nationwide. Supporters of this method suggest that children accomplish more in a system that uses their native language for beginning instruction and that progressively teaches them English as they expedite from grade level to grade level (Gale, 2014). A study conducted by Stanford University concluded “by the time they reached 5th grade, English-language learners in San Francisco's public schools were equally proficient in English, whether they had been in a bilingual program or had received all their instruction in English” (Maxwell, 2014). Clearly, this proves that bilingual education is beneficial to students, and can have them fully immersed in a new language even before they enter middle school. Research continues to explain that students benefit from long-term bilingual instruction, even though some students who are enrolled for shorter periods slowly but surely find success in “mainstream” education (Brisk, 2005).

Other world superpowers have already integrated bilingual education into their education systems. In order for the United States to not fall behind in the realm of advancement and technology, it is imperative to incorporate bilingual education into American school districts. According to the Gale group (2014), “countries with more than one national language, such as Switzerland, or those with a diverse ethnic population, such as the former Soviet Union, are much more likely to offer bilingual education as a matter of government policy” (p. 1). For example, because of its large Arab population, Israel has both Hebrew and Arabic language schools. However, in other countries, specifically ones where the native languages are not extensively spoken elsewhere, students generally study another language, particularly English, to insure communication with people from other nations (Gale 2014). Because of this, students in these nations are more globalized and can contribute more to society. Whereas students in the United States are merely subject to limited foreign language classes starting at the secondary level, at which point the adolescent has already surpassed the critical period for learning new language. Many opportunities and advantages arise when someone become bilingual. In today’s world, there is over 7,000 languages; the more languages a person can speak, the more benefits there are. Today’s society is dominated by business and its counterparts, which means that having the ability to communicate with a variety of people is a necessary component to success.

If America continues down a path of monolingualism, the result will be
present in the lack of academic success in students. With about twenty percent of the nation speaking a language other than English at home, it is naive to ignore the fact that bilingual education is essential to the future of this nation: a nation who is said in the Pledge of Allegiance to bring liberty and justice to all. Justice vanishes when a student stands in a classroom every morning and recites the words “I pledge allegiance to the flag” if it remains incomprehensible to them. The National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) seeks to find an answer to this question by providing resources to high-quality educational programs for children whose first language is not English, as well as find opportunities that will help them attain bilingualism and biliteracy (Gale 2014). NABE advocates policies favorable to bilingual education, conducts fund-raising, holds conferences for teachers and
school administrators, and publishes various publications, including brochures, the magazine News, and the Bilingual Research Journal. Thanks to NABE and organizations like them, bilingual education is making a difference in the lives and education of young people across the nation.