The Trump administration has withdrawn federal guidance that required schools to provide a wide range of services to students not proficient in English.
The 2015 policy, issued under President Barack Obama, directed school districts to offer language acquisition classes, support for disabilities, and access to grade-level curriculum materials. A notice on the Education Department’s website states that the rule has been rescinded, The New York Times reported Thursday.
When the guidance was enacted, the Education and Justice Departments warned that failing to provide these services would violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race and national origin.
The change marks a shift in how the administration is interpreting federal civil rights law. Previous administrations used Title VI to expand support for racial and ethnic minorities, but the current administration has often argued that programs targeted at specific groups, such as immigrant or Black students, could constitute discrimination against other students.
Many school districts may not immediately change their approach, as they already have programs in place and remain committed to serving English learners.
Education experts, however, warn that without federal oversight, some districts could scale back support. Without direction from Washington, schools may reduce services or eliminate programs.
Jill Siegelbaum, a former Education Department lawyer whose position was eliminated earlier this month, said she fears that some school systems will respond by segregating English learners or limiting their access to mainstream classes.
“There is nothing holding the school districts accountable in any meaningful way,” she said, adding that while the guidance has been rescinded, the underlying laws protecting English learners remain unchanged and have been in place since the 1980s.
Siegelbaum further said the administration is “testing boundaries, and they don’t seem to have any problem challenging laws that have been repeatedly tested, examined, re-examined, and relied upon for significant periods of time. That is true across the board.”
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