The Legislature finds that there are large numbers of children in the State who come from environments where the primary language is other than English. Experience has shown that public school classes in which instruction is given only in English are often inadequate for the education of children whose native tongue is another language. The Legislature believes that a program of bilingual education can meet the needs of those children and facilitate their integration into the regular public school curriculum. Therefore, pursuant to the policy of the State to insure equal educational opportunity to every child, and in recognition of the educational needs of children of limited English speaking ability, it is the purpose of this act to provide for the establishment of bilingual education programs in the public schools.
N.J.S. § 18A:35-15