Trump Administration Abolishes School Support Guidelines
Standards for Compliance with Equal Educational Opportunities Act and Civil Rights Act Eliminated
Support for English Education for International and Non-Native Students Likely to Weaken
The Donald Trump administration has abolished support guidelines for schools at all levels that were designed to assist students who are not proficient in English. According to Yonhap News, on the 20th (local time), Education Department spokesperson Maddie Biderman told the Washington Post (WP), "We have abolished the support guidelines for English learners that apply to public schools and others because they do not align with the administration's policies."
The U.S. government had issued support guidelines in 2015 requiring schools at all levels to comply with the Equal Educational Opportunities Act, which mandates educational services for students who are not proficient in English, as well as the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on nationality. The 40-page guidelines detailed specific implementation measures to ensure public schools complied with relevant legal provisions. While the laws themselves have not been repealed, the guidelines that schools relied on as a standard for fulfilling their legal obligations have been eliminated.
As a result, the Department of Justice is set to develop new guidelines to replace the abolished ones by mid-January next year. The WP explained, "This move is intended to strengthen the enforcement of President Trump's executive order, which designates English as the official language of the United States." On March 1, President Trump signed the executive order, stating, "All of America's historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have been written in English. A nationally designated language is essential for a unified and cohesive society." Until now, no federal legislation has designated English as the official language of the United States, although 30 states have enacted laws designating English as their official language.
Under this executive order, the Department of Education dismissed nearly all staff in its Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) and requested Congress to eliminate funding for English learner education. According to Yonhap News, this decision raises concerns that support for English education in U.S. public schools may be weakened for foreign students or for students who, despite having U.S. citizenship, come from families where a language other than English is primarily spoken.
This decision is also interpreted as being closely linked to President Trump's immigration policy. On the 1st of last month, during a visit to an immigrant detention facility in Florida, President Trump criticized the social costs resulting from the surge in illegal immigrants caused by the border control relaxation under the previous Biden administration, stating, "The United States spends $78 billion (about 109 trillion won) annually on interpretation." In response, the Department of Justice reportedly instructed all federal agencies in a memo last month to "minimize non-essential foreign language (languages other than English) support services."
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