• There are currently 1,381,393 LEP students in the California Public schools. This represents an increase of 166,175 (12%) since 1994 and a greater than 300% increase since 1980 (1997 Language Census, California Department of Education).

• Reflecting nationwide demographics of LEP students, the majority of LEP students in California are Spanish-speakers (79.4%), followed by Vietnamese speakers (3.6%).

• LEP students comprise one quarter of the state’s total student population; in grades K-3 they comprise one third.

• Los Angeles, with 557,640 LEP students or over 40% of the state’s LEP population, has the highest number of LEP students of any district in the entire country (California Department of Education).

• In 1997, school districts reported that 70% of their students are enrolled in programs that teach only in English, and that 30% receive instruction in both their primary language and English (California Department of Education, 1997).

• Despite the existence of laws that mandate schools to provide some special assistance to LEP students, 21% of LEP students in California receive no special services at all (California Department of Education, 1997).

• Almost 38% of all immigrants to the United States during the 1980’s settled in California (Crawford, 1995).

• While in 1970 the California population was comprised of 12% Hispanics and 3% Asians, by 1993, these percentages had grown to 27% and 11% respectively (Crawford, 1995).

• While LEP students in California speak a total of 82 different languages, the schools offer bilingual instruction in only six: Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, and Armenian (Crawford, 1995). Spanish speaking students comprise 80% of the total LEP population (1997 Language Census, California Department of Education).

• There are currently 14,965 teachers in California who have a bilingual certification, are and there are only 9,188 who are in training to receive the certification. In order to adequately staff all bilingual education programs, however, approximately 40,000 bilingual teachers are needed in California (California Department of Education, 1997).

• 1.2% of California’s entire education budget is spent special services for students with limited English proficiency. Of this amount one-third (or 0.4% of California’s entire education budget is spent on bilingual instruction.

Last Updated April 2, 1998. For more information, contact Kenji Hakuta at kenji@lindy.stanford.edu or Daria Witt at dwitt@leland.stanford.edu.