Check out this new story by Mandy Van Deven at ColorLines.com.

When she transfered to Storm Lake High School in Iowa from a high school in New York, Lori Phanachone indicated that she spoke a language other than English at home. As a result, the teenager, who was born in California and is a second generation Laotian American, was forced to take a basic English-proficiency exam every year or face disciplinary action.