That is, until I realized that I did get bilingual education, just not in school. I had what some call de facto bilingual education. Other immigrant students get help in their native language from hired tutors or bilingual classmates. In some subjects like math, I had already learned the concepts being taught in class in my native country and understood the lessons in English, at least initially, without much assistance. I was exposed to good English instruction from my siblings and from the English-speaking children on our block.
Some immigrant students have English tutors or get help in community after-school programs.
I also knew how to read and write in Chinese. Other children learn to read and write in their native language in the home, in community language schools or like me, in their native country. Knowing how to read and write in the native language helps tremendously when facing the same task in another tongue. Unless these students get bilingual education through school, they are unlikely to learn well and succeed in school. If so, then we need to give them the best possible schooling.