University of Kwazulu-Natal

It S Alarming Education Department Revokes Guidance On English

Bonisiwe Shabane
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it s alarming education department revokes guidance on english

The Education Department said the guidance micro-managed states. The U.S. Education Department has rescinded critical guidance to schools regarding how they provide English language learning services for roughly 5 million students in U.S. schools. The Education Department on Tuesday rescinded a 2015 Dear Colleague letter on its website, which served as a guide for school districts that are serving English learners to ensure they're providing adequate resources to... In a statement to ABC News, the Education Department said the document was "overly prescriptive" and that it micro-managed states.

"States have vastly different needs for this important population of students and are best equipped to determine how best to educate these students while following all applicable federal laws," the department said in the... The U.S. Department of Education has quietly rescinded a seminal 2015 “Dear Colleague” letter that outlined for schools and districts how they can comply with their legal obligations to serve English learners. Advocates for English learners first became aware of the rescission the week of Aug. 11, calling it the latest effort by the federal government to weaken protections for the nation’s more than 5 million English learners. This year alone, the Trump administration has:

In an emailed statement on Aug. 20, an Education Department spokesperson said the 2015 Dear Colleague letter—issued during the Obama administration—was rescinded “because it is not aligned with administration priorities.” The Dear Colleague letter itself was not legally binding and merely outlined how schools and districts could meet their legal obligations to English learners under federal law, and discussed issues that frequently arise in... Advocates argue change in policy could make it harder for students to learn English, the administration’s stated goal From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important...

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. The Trump administration has quietly rescinded a longstanding Department of Education guidance explaining how schools must comply with civil rights laws and court decisions mandating they provide services to English language learners, alarming education...

by ELAINE MALLON | The National News Desk WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Education Department rescinded guidance — backed by a 1974 Supreme Court ruling — which outlined how school districts provide instruction and resources to students who are not fluent English speakers. The 40-page document created under the Obama administration in 2015 long served to provide state education agencies and school districts with their required obligations to English learning students, which included specifics on staffing English... There are concerns that the Education Department's decision to no longer enforce this guidance will lead many schools to quit providing additional resources and instruction for non-native English speakers — potentially impacting five million... “It’s going to ripple quickly,” Michael Pillera, an attorney who worked at the Office for Civil Rights for 10 years, told the Washington Post. “Schools were doing this because the Office for Civil Rights told them they had to."

Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S. The Trump administration has quietly rescinded guidance spelling out the educational rights of the nation’s more than 5 million English learners that educators say was crucial to serving children from immigrant families. In recent weeks, a Dear Colleague letter issued in 2015 by the Education Department and Department of Justice was stamped with a red message saying the document had been formally rescinded. Neither agency issued a public notice explaining the rationale for the change as they usually do when they roll back federal guidance. The rescission comes after the Trump administration laid off nearly every staffer in the Education Department responsible for serving English learners and looks to wind down a federal website that provides toolkits for helping... The administration has also proposed zeroing out dedicated Title III funding for English learners and issued an executive order declaring English the official language of the United States.

Trump officials also cleared the way for immigration agents to make arrests at or near schools, child care centers, and after-school programs, undoing a longstanding precedent to treat those places as sensitive locations. The administration’s mass deportation campaign has left many school communities shaken and lowered student attendance in some parts of the country. The U.S. Department of Education has quietly made a decision that is sending shockwaves through schools, advocacy groups, and immigrant communities. On August 20, 2025, the department revoked a 2015 guidance document that had given schools detailed instructions on how to serve English learners. This guidance was not just a technical paper—it acted as a roadmap for school districts.

It explained what schools needed to do to follow civil rights laws, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974. These laws require schools to provide fair and meaningful access to education for students who are not fluent in English. While the laws themselves still exist, the guidance provided practical steps to ensure schools met those obligations. Without it, many worry that the protections for the nation’s nearly 5 million English learner (EL) students could weaken. The department said the 2015 guidance was “overly prescriptive.” In other words, they argued it micromanaged states and school districts. According to officials, local leaders should have more freedom to decide how to serve English learners, rather than following strict federal directions.

The administration has also been clear about its priorities: reducing regulations, cutting federal oversight, and promoting English as the sole language of public life. Earlier this year, President Trump signed an order naming English the official language of the United States, while his Justice Department pushed to scale back multilingual services in government programs. The longstanding guidance that helped districts and states serve English learners “is not aligned with [Trump] Administration priorities,” a department spokesperson said. The U.S. Department of Education quietly rescinded Obama-era guidance that called on states and districts to ensure English learners "can participate meaningfully and equally" in school and "have equal access to a high-quality education and the... The 40-page Dear Colleague letter, issued in 2015, commended districts for "creating programs that recognize the heritage languages of EL students as valuable assets to preserve."

The department said in a statement to K-12 Dive that it rescinded the guidance because "it is not aligned with [Trump] Administration priorities." The rescission of the guidance is part of a broader effort... The comprehensive and long-standing guidance included information on identifying and assessing potential EL students, evaluating EL students for special education services, ensuring their parents have meaningful access to information, and avoiding "unnecessary segregation" of...

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At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism shou...

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by ELAINE MALLON | The National News Desk WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Education Department rescinded guidance — backed by a 1974 Supreme Court ruling — which outlined how school districts provide instruction and resources to students who are not fluent English speakers. The 40-page document created under the Obama administration in 2015 long served to provide state education agencies and school distri...