Two or three years should be enough. The main goal should be to get children speaking, reading, and writing English as soon as possible. New Jersey also allows districts to use other teaching methods, such as English total immersion classes, and parents may refuse bilingual classes for their children. That option became law in 1996, amid predictions that the new law would kill bilingual education because so many parents would choose not to have their children take part. But those predictions have not come true.
Educators say that's because New Jersey offers districts the flexibility to try various approaches.
That's far better than abandoning bilingual education altogether, as long as the state monitors districts and sees to it that children are proficient in English and mainstreamed within two to three years.