According to a new report from the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University, proposed funding cuts, mass layoffs, and rescinded guidance will impede educational access for some of our neediest students. The report raises concerns about proposed cuts to formula grants for Title III funding aimed at language skills for new immigrants and English learners (ELs), changes to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding for those with disabilities, and rescinded guidance on how to enforce civil rights laws that protect ELs. In fact, the federal government’s funding and role in tracking and enforcing civil right laws for ELs is key to providing equal access to education. Nonetheless, the federal government has rescinded the decade-old guidance meant to protect students on the basis of national origin and the federal government’s funding.
The report, titled “Protecting Federal Funding to Support English Learners,” notes that English learners make up 11% of total school enrollment in the U.S., and it that federal “investments have never been sufficient, but are a critical resource in nearly every (school) district in the United States.” Of grave concern is that, although the U.S. Senate’s current budget proposal would keep Title III funding at current levels, both the Trump administration and the U.S. House have proposed eliminating it, “conflicting with years of research on what schools need to improve opportunities and outcomes for these — and for all — students. The report shows the breadth of what’s at stake if these programs are reduced or eliminated.”
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