Bilingual education is one of the most contentious and misunderstood educational programs in the country. It raises significant questions about this country's national identity, the nature of federalism, power, ethnicity, and pedagogy. In "Contested Policy," Guadalupe San Miguel Jr. studies the origins, evolution, and consequences of federal bilingual education policy from 1960 to 2001, with particular attention to the activist years after 1978, when bilingual policy was heatedly contested.
Traditionally, those in favor of bilingual education are language specialists, Mexican American...

The Mexican American community's relationship with the Anglodominated public school system has been multifaceted, complex, and ambiguous to say the least.
On one level, an organized community has consistently struggled for equality in the existing educational institutions. Its story, although full of crushed hopes and legal frustrations, is imbued with a sense of accomplishment. At another level, individual Mexican Americans who have attended segregated public schools over the years also have a complex and diverse story to tell. For some, there are fond memories of school activities gone...

From the dance halls to the main stage, from small town Texas to the big cities, and from treasured local cultural traditions to the national display of Mexican Texas' finest talent, musica tejana is rapidly becoming known as a rich and vibrant form of American music. In "Tejano Proud: Tex-Mex Music in the Twentieth Century, " Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., chronicles the many dimensions of this important musical form.
Rooted in Mexican culture and shaped by influences from the United States and the rest of the world, the diversity and complexity of this music give an expression to the people...

Strikes, boycotts, rallies, negotiations, and litigation marked the efforts of Mexican-origin community members to achieve educational opportunity and oppose discrimination in Houston schools in the early 1970s. These responses were sparked by the effort of the Houston Independent School District to circumvent a court order for desegregation by classifying Mexican American children as "white" and integrating them with African American children--leaving Anglos in segregated schools. Gaining legal recognition for Mexican Americans as a minority group became the only means for fighting this kind...

Much of the history of Mexican American educational reform efforts has focused on campaigns to eliminate discrimination in public schools. However, as historian Guadalupe San Miguel demonstrates in Chicana/o Struggles for Education: Activisim in the Community, the story is much broader and more varied than that.