The call for more expansive access to bilingual education is grounded in a comprehensive synthesis of evidence on the benefits of bilingual education, bilingualism, and biliteracy for students and the larger social fabric. Many studies find that access to bilingual education programs has a medium to large positive impact on students' academic achievement, while also supporting a higher likelihood of being reclassified out of English learners (EL) status to fluent English proficient. Importantly, the benefits of bilingual education and bilingualism go beyond academic and English language outcomes, with benefits for students' home language development, cognitive functioning, social-emotional and sociocultural outcomes, and students' future employment and earnings. This paper looks at the next 25 years of education and policy making regarding students classified as EL. Given the strong research evidence on the benefits of bilingual education and need to address barriers to opportunity experienced by English learners, this paper strengthens the case for federal, state and local education policy and action that looks toward the implementation of bilingual education as the standard service--rather than exception--for EL-classified students. [For the executive summary, see ED628814.]