Education Department Dissolving Federal Office Serving English Learners

“This article was originally published in Chalkbeat. The Education Department plans to dissolve the office that supports the country’s 5 million English learners. The move comes as the Trump administration has called to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and to stop funding English language acquisition programs in the federal budget. The country’s English learner student population includes U.S. citizen children of immigrant parents as well as authorized and undocumented immigrant children, communities that are reeling from the effects of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign . The Office of English Language Acquisition already was decimated in early rounds of layoffs . Last August, the Department quietly rescinded guidance that many states and school districts rely on to protect the rights of immigrant students. Education Department officials said dissolving the office and assigning its work to offices doing related work would be better for English learners. In an emailed statement, Assistant Education Secretary Kirsten Baesler said the changes would align work across teams within the department, reduce administrative burden, and “empower states to design integrated supports.” “English Learners should never be treated as a siloed program, set aside as an afterthought,” Baesler said. “When English language acquisition is embedded across core priorities like literacy, academic content, educator preparation, and accountability, it receives the seriousness and sustained focus it deserves.” The Education Department informed Congress of the changes in a February letter. Education Week first reported on the moves and the letter Tuesday. According to the letter, distribution of federal Title III money that helps states educate English learners will be handled by the same office that distributes other large federal programs such as Title I. Trump’s proposed budget calls for eliminating Title III funding as a separate program, even as he also signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. Congress last year disregarded a similar budget proposal and maintained Title III funding . Training programs for teachers who work with English learners will move to the Office of Effective Educator Development Programs, the letter said. Language programs for Native American and Alaska Native children will move to the Office of Indian Education. The changes do not affect the rights of English learner students under federal law. However, many advocates and educators said the office played a critical role in ensuring federal funds were spent appropriately and in sharing best practices and new research. More of that responsibility now falls to states and school districts . While the Education Department says that shift is appropriate, many school districts historically have failed to meet the needs of English learners, leading to lawsuits. The Education Department is in the process of moving the entire Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to the Department of Labor , while programs related to educating Native American students are moving to the Department of the Interior. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters .

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