The era of modern bilingual education in the United States had its origins in the Cuban Revolution.

Cubans who fled their home island after 1959 were overwhelmingly from the professional and business classes and intended to succeed in their new English-speaking home, keeping their language and culture. The bilingual programs they established in Florida were, and continue to be, the most successful in the country. These expats did nothing new, much less radical. In keeping with the American bilingual tradition, they were becoming part of the fabric of American society while maintaining their own linguistic and cultural threads, both inside and outside of school.

However, the most important impetus for the widespread adoption of bilingual education was the 1960 civil rights movement. At a time of national liberation struggles and demands that our society live up to the ideals of "equality under law,” Latino activists, educators and academics made the education of Spanish-speaking children a priority. Among its main principles, as a matter of civil rights, was that the education of Latino children be based on their native cultures and include instruction in Spanish.

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