"The future in America, and everywhere, is multilingual."

From the New York Times op-ed “Do You Speak My Language? You Should”  (here) by Benedicte de Montlaur

 In public schools, parents have also pushed for dual-language immersion programs, which foster fluency for students who need help with English while allowing English speakers to gain a new language. In Anchorage, Alaska, the school board recently approved a French dual-language program after a petition by parents. In New York, parent organizing has been instrumental in the opening of dual-language programs for decades.

In concert with these efforts, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York announced last month that 47 more pre-K dual-language programs in city schools will open in the fall. In total, there will be 107 dual-language programs for the 2019-20 school year, including the city’s first French, Haitian-Creole, Hebrew and Japanese pre-K programs.

Elsewhere, Utah is aiming to internationalize its population by offering dual-language programs to English speakers; its International Education Initiative became law in 2008, and its public schools now offer about 200 immersion programs. “Global California 2030,” an initiative by the state’s superintendent of public education “to vastly expand the teaching and learning of world languages,” was recently adopted in part to maintain and strengthen the diversity of languages spoken in the state.