There was a time in California when bilingual-bicultural education programs were considered sound and essential. In the post Lau v. Nichols period, state and federal mandates required education to be delivered in a comprehensible manner. For language minority students a comprehensible manner meant lesson deliver in the language best understood by the learner. This was a basic right for all students. This era in California began in the early 1970s and continued for approximately three decades. Programs, funding, and policies were developed to support bilingual-bicultural education at the national and state level. Laws were passed that increased the number of bilingual educators in the public school system and actively provided curriculum programs to support bilingual education.

This qualitative study gives eight female bilingual-bicultural teachers an opportunity to tell their stories, stories that describe what it was like to be an educator before, during, and after this era. These female educators, who were actively involved with the bilingual education programs, share their memories, experiences, and perspectives on an age in California when bilingual-bicultural educational policy was supported, enforced, and promoted. The lessons learned through these narratives provide a renewed avenue of exploration for educators. The importance of these stories cannot be overstated as the struggle to create an environment of inclusive policies still ruminates throughout the public education system.

Highlights of the findings include: (1) Support systems were crucial to the implementation of bilingual programs. (2) Limited instructional materials in the primary language contributed to an atmosphere of collegiality among bilingual educators. (3) A limited number of bilingual credentialed teachers led to a heavy reliance on bilingual instructional aides. (4) Universities were not prepared to train teachers in bilingual methodology. (5) An absence of research-based primary language instruction, second language acquisition, and classroom practices existed until the Schooling for Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Framework was published. (6). Bilingual education only benefited language minority groups, isolated English-only students, and was costly. (7) Bilingual programs were implemented too quickly and broadly without incremental steps.