University of Kwazulu-Natal

Trump Administration Axes Guidance On English Learners Education

Bonisiwe Shabane
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trump administration axes guidance on english learners education

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free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S. The Trump administration has quietly rescinded guidance spelling out the educational rights of the nation’s more than 5 million English learners that educators say was crucial to serving children from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the Education Department and Department of Justice was stamped with a red message saying the document had been formally rescinded.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 The U.S. Department of Education has quietly rescinded a seminal 2015 “Dear Colleague” letter that outlined for schools and districts how they can comply with their legal obligations to serve English learners.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20, an Education Department spokesperson said the 2015 Dear Colleague letter—issued during the Obama administration—was rescinded “because it is not aligned with administration priorities.”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... WASHINGTON -- 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 document is still available online for "historical purposes only," according to a notice. WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has rescinded federal guidance laying out the rights and civil rights protections of the roughly 5 million children not proficient in English attending public schools. The guidance, issued by the civil rights offices of the Justice and Education departments in 2015, outlined the legal obligations that public schools must undertake to prevent discrimination and comply with years of court... Now, the Trump administration’s Education Department has quietly rescinded the guidance, according to the version now made available on the department’s website. The document is stamped with a red disclaimer stating it has been formally rescinded and is being made available for historical purposes only.

The Education Department did not immediately return a request for comment but confirmed the change to The Washington Post, which first reported the move Wednesday. “As you know, we want to bring education back to the states, take the federal government out of it," President Donald Trump said in July. "A little tiny bit of supervision, but very little, almost nothing. Like to make sure they speak English. That's about all we need." Since returning to power in January, Trump’s team has eliminated many federal agencies’ multilingual services, including within the Education Department, as the president has declared English the United States’ “official language” while orchestrating a...

The arrests of school-age students and family members at or near school property have occurred with frequency in recent months, including 50 children younger than 18 in the New York City area alone since... The Trump administration has officially rescinded federal guidance that for decades directed U.S. schools to support students learning English. The move, announced quietly by the Departments of Education and Justice, affects nearly 5 million students nationwide who are not yet fluent in English. Many of these students were born in the United States, but their educational future has been uncertain without federal oversight. The change is part of a larger effort by the administration to make English the country’s “official language” while scaling back multilingual services across agencies.

Education advocates warn that the decision could leave millions of children without critical support, reshaping how schools approach language learning nationwide. A Shift Away from Longstanding Protections For almost 50 years, federal law has held that schools must actively ensure non-English-speaking students can access meaningful education. This legal foundation was built on landmark rulings and legislation, including: In 2015, under the Obama administration, the Justice and Education Departments released a 40-page guidance document that outlined specific steps schools could take to comply with these laws. It became a critical reference point for teachers and administrators nationwide.

Montserrat Garibay, former head of the Office of English Language Acquisition under the Biden administration, described the document as “kind of like the Bible” for educators working with English learners.

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