Three-year-olds are sitting cross-legged in a circle in a classroom east of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., repeating Spanish phrases about fall foliage. “Llega el otoño tras el verano,” they respond, their enthusiasm genuine and their accents distinctly American. It’s a minor, nearly unremarkable scene. However, it’s more akin to a breakthrough when considering what has been happening—or rather, what hasn’t been happening—in Black neighborhoods across this nation.
There are now more than 2,000 dual-language immersion programs in the US, up from about 260 in 2000. That is a remarkable increase, the kind of development that proponents of education reform typically applaud. However, if you pay close attention to where these programs actually end up—which schools, which neighborhoods, and which children—a pattern that is hard to ignore becomes apparent. White, wealthy families have been the main drivers of growth, and the programs have followed.
Jasmine Brann, the principal, is more familiar with this than most. As a Black student navigating the peculiar challenges of American language education, she was given the Spanish alter ego “Josefina” in high school while being allowed to be herself in all other subjects. It sounds insignificant. It wasn’t. Being told, even subtly, that your real name doesn’t fit the language you’re learning has a subtly damaging effect. Jazmín would have been a good fit. However, no one made the offer.
After studying abroad in Argentina and France, Brann went on to teach Spanish and French before becoming the principal of Shirley Chisholm Elementary, a Title I school in Washington, D.C. with 62% Black students. Following years of community feedback, the school combined its Spanish Immersion and Creative Arts programs into a single Bilingual Arts strand in 2023 to ensure that all students, including those with neurodiverse learning styles, had access to both. It’s the kind of quiet, tenacious institutional work that transforms lives but seldom makes headlines.
The research confirms that there is a genuine need. Closing achievement gaps between English language learners and native English speakers has been associated with dual-language programs. In an increasingly multilingual economy, they enhance long-term career prospects, academic confidence, and cognitive flexibility. Jimell Sanders, a parent in Washington, D.C., and co-founder of the nonprofit DC Language Immersion Project, has noted that up to five kids are waiting for each available spot, indicating that demand for these programs extends well beyond the Northwest neighborhoods where the majority are concentrated. That isn’t indifference. That is hunger that hasn’t been satisfied.
The first dual-language program offered east of the Anacostia River was started at Houston Elementary, which is located in the Deanwood neighborhood, which is home to the city’s two poorest wards. Nearly all of its students are African-American. The fact that this was regarded as noteworthy, even groundbreaking, speaks volumes about how uneven the expansion has been. A program isn’t truly for all kids if it is available in large quantities for some kids and infrequently for others. With a waitlist, it’s a privilege.
It’s still unclear if the growing momentum in schools like Houston and Shirley Chisholm signifies a real change in how districts view equity or if these are just isolated initiatives in a system that hasn’t completely adjusted. What is certain, though, is that the discourse is evolving. Black families are making more demands. Teachers like Brann are advocating from within the school. And some schools are paying attention, albeit perhaps too slowly. There is a bilingual gap. However, it turns out that there is a desire to close it.
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