The U.S. Department of Education has quietly rescinded a seminal 2015 鈥淒ear Colleague鈥� letter that outlined for schools and districts how they can comply with their legal obligations to serve English learners.
Advocates for English learners first became aware of the rescission the week of Aug. 11, calling it the latest effort by the federal government to weaken protections for the nation鈥檚 more than 5 million English learners.
This year alone, the Trump administration has:
- Revoked a policy memo declaring schools a 鈥減rotected area鈥� from immigration enforcement, leaving school districts serving immigrant students and English learners to address safety concerns for students and their families;
- Laid off almost all employees in the federal office dedicated to English learners;
- Withheld federal dollars intended for English learners, known as Title III Part A formula grants (and though the funds were eventually released to states, President Donald Trump still calls for cutting this funding for the 2026-27 school year);
- And issued an executive order declaring English the country鈥檚 official language, with the U.S. Department of Justice publishing initial guidance in July aimed at minimizing 鈥渘on-essential multilingual services.鈥�
In an emailed statement on Aug. 20, an Education Department spokesperson said the 2015 Dear Colleague letter鈥攊ssued during the Obama administration鈥攚as rescinded 鈥渂ecause it is not aligned with administration priorities.鈥�
The Dear Colleague letter itself was not legally binding and merely outlined how schools and districts could meet their legal obligations to English learners under federal law, and discussed issues that frequently arise in civil rights investigations into schools over serving English learners.
The letter, which schools and districts relied on years, now has a at the top saying it remains available 鈥渇or historical purposes only.鈥�
Shifting priorities limit English learners鈥� rights
The Dear Colleague letter was one of the most widely used resources that the Department of Education ever issued for English learners because of how comprehensive and clear it was about schools鈥� legal expectations for serving these students, said Julie Sugarman, associate director for K-12 education research at the Migration Policy Institute.
The letter detailed what schools and districts must do to ensure they comply with the Civil Rights Act and other legal requirements regarding English learners, such as:
- Identifying and assessing English learners in need of language assistance in a timely, valid, and reliable manner;
- Providing English learners with a language assistance program that is educationally sound and proven successful;
- Sufficiently staffing and supporting the language assistance programs for English learners;
- Ensuring English learners have equal opportunities to meaningfully participate in all school-offered curricular and extracurricular activities, including the core curriculum, graduation requirements, specialized and advanced courses and programs, sports, clubs, and more.
It also covered common scenarios that the Department of Justice and the Education Department鈥檚 office for civil rights would investigate if they received complaints.
Leslie Villegas, a senior policy analyst at the think tank New America, said that while the actual laws enshrining English learners鈥� rights remain unaffected, rescinding the guidance signals the federal government鈥檚 priorities around the future of English-learner education and students鈥� rights.
鈥淭hey want to make the right of English-learner students seem subjective 鈥� in the sense that they want to make it seem as if districts and schools and states are able to just decide on their own whether they need to follow these laws or not, when that is not the case,鈥� Villegas said. 鈥淭hese are not optional. These are required.鈥�
Fewer investigations likely after guidance rescinded
The decision also suggests the administration鈥檚 shifting priorities around which discrimination complaints it prioritizes in K-12 schools and could trigger an investigation, Sugarman said.
The Education Department鈥檚 office for civil rights also faced major reductions in staffing earlier this year, with those left at the agency focusing on politically-motivated investigations such as race-based programming and policies on transgender students鈥� ability to play on athletic teams and access bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity.
鈥淚 think it could very well embolden schools led by folks who don鈥檛 want to serve these kids to say, 鈥榳ell, now we don鈥檛 need to serve these kids,鈥欌�� Sugarman said. 鈥淎nd clearly, that鈥檚 not true. But all of these messages sort of put together create an atmosphere where people can feel that there won鈥檛 be anybody looking over their shoulders to serve the kids.鈥�
A February EdWeek Research Center survey found that 87% of 糖心动漫vlog who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election support schools鈥� federal requirement to provide English instruction to students who need such instruction to succeed academically, as outlined in the 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lau v. Nichols.
Sixty-three percent of 糖心动漫vlog who said they voted for Trump also said they support this requirement.
Sugarman acknowledged that the Education Department has never had the capacity to keep tabs on all schools serving English learners, relying instead on complaints filed by families and advocates to determine when to open investigations.
But with each new move at the federal level limiting resources and rights of English learners, Sugarman said it鈥檚 been clear that the Department of Education is not interested in following up on those complaints moving forward.
