Instruction in state-supported schools should generally be in English, except for foreign language courses. The experience of my family is that speaking Spanish has always been allowed in schools when students are allowed to converse with each other and the school has no need of monitoring the conversation. When correction came, it was either because English was necessary for instructional purposes or because at that moment talking wasn't allowed in class in English either, so the real issue was disrupting class by talking rather than the language of the conversation. No one was forced not to speak Spanish in the home or in private conversations; it was just recognized that making public accommodations that facilitated the neglect of learning English was not in the best interests of the Hispanic students.
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