Federal Policy And Funding For Ell Education News And Updates

This resource page includes updates related to federal policy and funding for the education of English language learners (ELLs). For additional information related to your setting, you may wish to check in with administrators at the school and district level. For more information on the federal regulations related to ELLs, see our resource guide below. These updates relate to recent staff cuts at the U.S. Department of Education; the cuts included a large cohort of staffers from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Here is a helpful page from Understood with updates and a Q&A for families:

Note: ELLs with special education needs are legally entitled to both sets of services. Learn more in our Special Education and ELLs: Resource Gallery. English-learner advocates say there’s a growing and urgent need to protect federal funding dedicated to the nation’s English-learner population as the Trump administration seeks to eliminate this source of support. Title III state formula grants, totaling a little more than $890 million, help school districts hire bilingual tutors, purchase supplemental curricular materials, and offer professional development for teachers. In late June, the Trump administration withheld these funds along with billions in other congressionally approved education funding, sparking nationwide backlash and lawsuits. By July 25, the administration announced all the withheld funding would be unfrozen.

But the Trump administration has also proposed the elimination of Title III funding for the 2026 fiscal year in its May budget proposal. In light of the year’s developments regarding Title III funds, the National Association for Bilingual Education, or NABE, convened English-learner and language education advocacy groups in a webinar on Aug. 21 to discuss what’s next for English learners in the federal policy landscape. Federal Funding for the ELT Profession, MLEs, Families, Schools, Communities - Take Action! The U.S. Federal Government provides significant funding that supports the English language teaching (ELT) profession and multilingual learners of English (MLEs).

The U.S. president has proposed a budget for fiscal year 2026 that eliminates this funding and, more urgently, the funding for fiscal year 2025 has yet to be released. The U.S. Department of Education has, as of this publication, not allocated the Congressionally appropriated funding for fiscal year 2025 for several programs, including the funds for English language acquisition (ELA) PreK-12 Public Education and for... TESOL International Association has led efforts with members, peer organizations, and fellow advocates in elevating the English language teaching (ELT) profession and multilingual learners of English (MLEs) in U.S. federal policy and appropriations.

TESOL and over 20 other organizations submitted a letter to Congress requesting immediate action in demanding that the U.S. Department of Education allocate these funds immediately. We ask that you join these efforts and elevate the ELT profession and the MLEs we serve by urging your member of Congress to hold the U.S. Department of Education accountable and release fiscal year 2025 appropriated funds immediately. If your program or local education agency, or even state budgets, are impacted by the delay, please share that with your member. See these charts for information on funding impacts by state for ELA PreK-12 and IELCE adult education.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) provides national leadership to help ensure that English learners and immigrant students attain English proficiency and achieve academic success. In addition to preserving heritage languages and cultures, OELA is committed to prompting opportunities for biliteracy or multiliteracy skills for all students. OELA accomplishes this in the following ways: Department of Education’s Newcomer Toolkit designed to help schools support immigrants, refugees, and their families with a successful integration process. This toolkit will provide information, resources and examples of effective practices that educators can use to support newcomers in our schools and communities.

New Download the entire Newcomer Tool Kit (PDF, 8 MB) We are thrilled to announce Beatriz Ceja-Williams as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) at the U.S. Department of Education. She has served at the Department of Education for over 20 years in various capacities. Most recently, Ceja-Williams was the Senior Director for Institutional Service (IS) in the Office of Postsecondary Education at the Department where she was responsible for the Divisions that administer the discretionary and formula grant... Prior to that she was the Division Director for Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Find information and resources for English learners as well as useful information on state education agencies, state assessment directors, grant policies, grant guidance and other reference information on and assistance with administering and managing... Title funding for English learners, after-school programs and professional development are among the allocations unavailable to districts and states. School districts will be forced to cancel after-school programming, services for English learners and professional development as a result of $6.2 billion in federal K-12 grant money that the U.S. Department of Education is withholding from states and districts, according to education leaders who spoke at a press conference Tuesday. The funding that has already been appropriated by Congress and that was supposed to be available to states and districts on Tuesday, July 1, is for programs including migrant education, English learner services, academic... It appears federal funding for Title I to support students from low-income communities and for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for students with disabilities is being distributed as expected.

States were notified on Monday by the Education Department that “decisions have not yet been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year,” according to a blog by the Learning Policy Institute... Updated: This story has been updated after the Trump administration announced it withheld $6.8 billion in federal education funds, including Title III dollars. When the U.S. Department of Education laid off thousands of employees earlier this year amid the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate the agency, it threw hundreds of schools into limbo over the future of a key federal... The National Professional Development (NPD) grant program, run by the Education Department’s office for English language acquisition, or OELA, provides universities and nonprofit organizations with funding to partner with school districts for in-service teacher... There are currently 107 active NPD grants helping schools meet a pronounced need as the English-learner population continues to grow nationally, and teachers report feeling unprepared in helping these students as they acquire English-language...

Most English learners are U.S.-born citizens. “The NPD grant is a means of ensuring that we have effective teachers in position to help students become multilingual learners,” said Douglas Reed, a current grantee and soon to be vice provost of... KEEPING ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFESSIONALS CONNECTED 2025 began with a dramatic shift in U.S. political priorities. Administrative and legislative actions at the federal and state levels have generated concern and challenges across the educational landscape, especially for English language teachers serving communities that include undocumented learners.

Educators and schools are quickly responding to these actions, seeking answers and legal guidance while continuing to serve the learners and families within their communities. Here are three key policies that impact multilingual families in the United States, with guidance and resources for educators at varying levels—district administrators, campus administrators, and classroom teachers. The protected area policy1, which exempts schools, hospitals, and places of worship from nonexigent circumstances (U.S. Const. amend. IV, § 6.3) on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), goes back at least to 1993 (Puleo).

The policy, though, has never been made into law and, as a result, is contingent upon agency and executive leadership for adherence. On Monday, 20 January, Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued a directive (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2025) that ICE agents would not have to abide by the sensitive or protected areas policy. With this move, ICE agents may now apprehend and arrest “criminal aliens . . .

who have illegally come into [the] country” directly on school campuses, from elementary and secondary education institutions to adult and higher education institutions, including vocational schools.

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