Since January 2025, educators and advocates for English learners and immigrant students have raised concerns about support for these populations, even as schools’ federal obligations to them remain intact.
Most recently, the U.S. Department of Education notified key members of Congress about its plans to move all federal English-learner programs and duties to other agencies, thereby dissolving a stand-alone office of English language acquisition, or OELA.
While English-learner programs—such as the Title III funding program providing states and districts with supplemental dollars—will continue, advocates worry the transition could weaken oversight and expertise. The new agencies expected to take on these duties may be understaffed and lack the years of expertise of former OELA staffers, said Montserrat Garibay, the former OELA director under President Joe Biden.
Experts noted that another key benefit of a stand-alone office dedicated to English learners was the opportunity for federal staffers to ensure these students’ needs were discussed in broader education decisions.
Any possible lapse in federal guidance on how to best serve these students could complicate states and districts’ ability to meet their federal obligations and preserve students’ rights. It would also complicate the goals of fulfilling President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring English as the national language, experts said.
“It just sends a negative message, because now we’re going to have these 5.3 million English learners who are not going to be receiving the resources that they need,” Garibay said.
Others say that as the federal government has symbolically stepped away from prioritizing the needs of English learners and immigrant students, it will ultimately fall to states and districts to uphold and prioritize their rights and education.
At least seven states have, since Trump’s reelection win, taken efforts to challenge undocumented students’ right to free, public education, according to an EdWeek analysis.
Review the cards below to see the ways recent federal policy changes carry implications for English learners and immigrant students.
For further reading:
- Minn. districts ask judge to restore immigration enforcement limits by schools 🔎
- One casualty of Trump’s $6.8 billion funding freeze: schools’ trust in the feds 🔎
- Trump admin. quietly rescinds guidance on English learners’ rights 🔎
- Trump again proposes major education cuts in new budget proposal 🔎
- Trump has made English the official language. What that means for schools 🔎
