一八四八年美國與墨西哥戰爭後雙方簽定了瓜達路佩-依達爾戈條約(Treaty of Gadalupe Hidalgo)，加州正式成為美國的領土。原居住在加州地區的十多萬墨西哥人可選擇繼續留在該地成為美國的公民，其語言、文化及財產權均受到保護。由於受到早期淘金熱潮及國內開發需要勞工的影響，移民人口來自世界各地使得美國境內移民人數大量增加。美國境內大量來自非英語體系國家的移民製造了許多社會問題，造成白人對移民產生負面的評價。 一九六八年雙語教育法通過至一九九八年加州地區經由公民投票的方式通過廢除雙語教育，在實施三十年後由移民人口眾多的加州地區通過這樣的提案，其所顯示的意義特別引人注意。本文將從歷史背景的角度分析其發展，研究此雙語教育政策對英語能力有限移民子女之影響，進而研究加州地區廢除雙語教育的原因及受到此教育政策影響的族裔在美國發展的現況及對美國社會可能產生的影響。

　　　　　In the past thirty years, the issue of bilingual education in the United States has attracted different degrees of attention. However, in 1998, the issue of bilingual education in California became a nationwide concern. In June 1998, over 61% voters voted against continuing bilingual education in California. The issue is not only an educational problem, but also it is closely related with political, economic, and social factors. Among the Hispanics, sixty percent are Mexican-Americans. And the population of bilingual education consists mainly of Spanish-English speakers. The elimination of bilingual education reveals an anti-immigration bias. This thesis intends to discuss the problem of minority groups in the United States, especially those from the Central America. Bilingual education was originally aimed to help those children whose English proficiency was inadequate. But why was the program ended after thirty years in California? This thesis concentrates on the factors against bilingual education and their influence.