Collating the Arizona and Washington bilingual/language education policies reveals that state level language policy crucially affects US federal language policy appropriation [No Child Left Behind Act, Title III]. Using Bourdieu's notions of habitus and doxa, it is claimed that diverse appropriation types impact educator and student focus on bilingualism. Ethnographic study in demographically alike school districts in Arizona and Washington, compares student and school faculty voices from both states to show how language policies are appropriated and validated in diverse ways that may not be anticipated on the basis of federal language policy.