Ileana Najarro is a reporter for Education Week covering race and opportunity in schools across the country. She previously wrote for the Tampa Bay Times and the Houston Chronicle.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker talks with two crossing guards on Aug. 27, 2025, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. On Aug. 15, 2025, he signed into law a bill that protects all students' right to a free, public education regardless of immigration status.
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a 3rd grade English-learners class at the 700-student Worthington Intermediate School that serves grades 3 through 5, in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024. English-learner advocates call for national leaders to protect federal dollars dedicated to these students.
Fifth graders listen during Durdana Qayum’s Urdu lesson at Allen Jay Elementary School in High Point, N.C., on Jan. 28, 2025. Bilingual education programs, like dual-language immersion programs at Allen Jay, are the most effective models for English learners.
Boston Latin Academy student Lila Conley, 16, works on a precalculus problem during a summer bridge program at Northeastern University in Boston on Aug. 1, 2023. The College Board's AP Precalculus program expanded access to college-level coursework for students in high school.
Teachers Deimy Labrador, top, and Emily Ledesma read with children in an Early Head Start class supporting kids with developmental delays at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. Head Start grantees in Florida and across the country now have questions over how these programs will work moving forward under new restrictions barring undocumented students from enrollment.
Bilingual aide Elizabeth Alonzo works with 2nd grader Maria Gonzalez de Leon, along with classmates, from left, Herlina Hernandez Guidel, Xavier Hooker, and Jaciel Felipe Matias, at West Elementary School in Russellville, Ala., on Dec. 9, 2022. Supplemental staff such as aides and tutors can be funded through Title III, but those funds are currently frozen, leaving hiring decisions in limbo.
Classroom teachers learn from subject matter experts during a training session at Alicedes Figuera Bilingual School Grades 6-12, a National Professional Development grant school partner, in Añasco, PR. NPD grants of the federal office for English language acquisition provide training and micro-credential programs on serving English learners. Schools partner with universities and nonprofits for these services.
Jennifer Hosler, center, a pastor and parent of a child who attends Mundo Verde Public Charter School, leads parents and staff in a chant of solidarity as they keep watch for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in front of the school, amid fears of impending arrests at schools, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. A new study found that immigration raids lead to increases in student absences, interrupting student learning.