The Department of Education has discreetly withdrawn a guidance that has been the cornerstone of educational services for children with limited or no English proficiency for over a decade.
This policy shift was instigated by President Trump's Executive Order on March 1, which declared English as the official language of the United States.
In the second paragraph of the Executive Order, it was stated, "In welcoming new Americans, a policy of encouraging the learning and adoption of our national language will make the United States a shared home and empower new citizens to achieve the American dream."
This statement, as reported by RedState, emphasizes the importance of English proficiency in fostering economic opportunities, community engagement, and participation in national traditions. The order further acknowledged the multilingual American citizens who have learned English and passed it on to their children for generations.
The Executive Order also underscored the necessity of designating a single official language to promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement. "Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society," the order stated.
Following this, Attorney General Pam Bondi provided guidance on how the administration will interpret the executive order. "As President Trump has made clear, English is the official language of the United States," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. "The Department of Justice will lead the effort to codify the Presidents Executive Order and eliminate wasteful virtue-signaling policies across government agencies to promote assimilation over division."
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon added, "President Trumps Executive Order marks a pivotal step toward unifying our nation through a common language and enhancing efficiency in federal operations. The Department of Justice ensures that while we respect linguistic diversity, our federal resources will prioritize English proficiency to empower new Americans and strengthen civic unity.
This move has been long overdue. It is illogical for a nation that requires English proficiency for citizenship to print ballots in multiple foreign languages. If one cannot read English, perhaps they should reconsider their voting rights.
The guidance that was rescinded was a verbose, lengthy "Dear Colleague" letter from the Obama Department of Education. It established a complex system where school districts were required to provide instruction in the student's native language.
This system, while potentially effective in areas with a dominant immigrant language, poses significant challenges in districts with a multitude of languages. Notably, every dollar spent on providing instruction in a foreign language is a dollar diverted from the education of English-speaking children.
The requirement to serve English-language learners in school is based on two federal statutes. The first is Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on national origin, among other traits. A landmark 1974 Supreme Court case interpreted this law to include a mandate for English-language services in schools. The second federal law at issue is the 1974 Equal Educational Opportunities Act, which requires public schools to provide for students who do not speak English.
The Obama administration cleverly pivoted from equal access to instruction to the Marxist ideal of equity. There is no evidence that the method in the "Dear Colleague" letter worked, but they were content to achieve that equity by driving down the reading scores of English speakers.
Our education system should be a boot camp for knowledgeable and engaged citizens. However, it has transformed from a credible education system to a social work system that provides banal and anti-patriotic lessons to the students unfortunate enough to end up there.
The notion that a child from a non-English speaking household will become language proficient by accommodating that language in school is nonsensicalimmersion works, as was proven at the height of our Ellis Island experience. If parents want their child to receive instruction in a foreign language, then School Choice provides the perfect tool for that accommodation.
Login