It has been confirmed that the Donald Trump administration officially revoked the federal Ministry of Education guidelines that mandated support for English learners. There are concerns that this move could threaten the educational rights of approximately 5 million English under-skilled students.
According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 20th (local time), the U.S. Ministry of Education announced the revocation of the 2015 guidelines for English learners. Spokesperson Maddy Biderman noted that the decision was made because the current administration's policy direction is inconsistent with those guidelines.
The 2015 guidelines for English learners announced by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education, which span a total of 40 pages, specify concrete matters that public schools must implement to comply with the law. They reportedly include the Equal Educational Opportunity Act, which mandates providing educational services to students who are not proficient in English, as well as civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination based on nationality. While the law itself has not been abolished, the guidelines that schools used as a benchmark to fulfill their legal obligations have been eliminated.
This is seen as a continuation of President Trump's executive order from last March, which declared English to be the United States' "official language." According to WP, the Ministry of Justice directed all federal agencies in July to eliminate multilingual service guidelines and adopt an English-first policy. In response, the Ministry of Education has laid off the majority of staff in the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) and has requested the cancellation of related budgets from Congress.
In fact, the Ministry of Justice is already known to have ended oversight regarding support for at least three school districts, including Boston, Newark, and Worcester. Boston parent groups raised concerns, stating that there has been no explanation as to why federal oversight was suddenly lifted; however, organizations supporting immigration restrictions expressed their approval, arguing that excessive resources allocated to supporting new immigrants could infringe upon the educational rights of other students.
The education community and human rights organizations are strongly opposing this move. Former attorney from the Civil Rights Division of the Ministry of Justice, Michael Filler, warned, "The federal government is stepping back from interpretations and enforcement it has maintained for the past 55 years," adding that "school districts under financial pressure may immediately begin to reduce support for English learning."
The Trump administration has stated it will prepare new guidelines by January of next year; however, experts analyze that the reduction in support is virtually inevitable. Leslie Viega, a researcher at the liberal think tank New America, expressed concerns that merely the perception that federal oversight has disappeared could suppress support.