The nation’s most linguistically diverse state has a tortured history with bilingual education in public schools. The Education Department can’t — and the Legislature won’t — do what it takes to repair the damage.

Researchers said California should follow Texas' lead and require districts with large numbers of English learners to offer bilingual education.

California has banned bilingual education on and off since the 1800s. The state is now 8 years into allowing it again but still hasn’t managed to get all that many kids into good programs.

A 1998 ban on dual-language courses was repealed in 2016, but they still have not fully bounced back or hired enough teachers. Texas enrolls 40 percent of its English learners in such programs compared to 10 percent in California.