The equitable education of English language learners (ELLs) is safeguarded by various civil rights laws and policies, as well as by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). They ensure support for the language and academic development of ELLs. Here is a brief summary of each:
1. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:
Title VI prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, color or national origin by recipients of federal financial assistance.
It has been interpreted to prohibit denial of equal access to education because of a student’s limited proficiency in English.
2. Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1968):
Recognizes the unique educational disadvantages faced by non-English-speaking students. Title VII, also known as the Bilingual Education Act, established a federal policy to assist education agencies to serve students with limited English proficiency by authorizing funding to support those efforts.
3. The May 25 Memorandum (1970):
The district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language instructional needs of students in order to open the instructional program to the students.
4. Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court Ruling (1974):
The Supreme Court ruled that identical education does not constitute equal education under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court ruled that the district must take affirmative steps to overcome educational barriers faced by ELLs.
5. Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974:
The statute specifically prohibits states from denying equal educational opportunity by failing to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation.
6. Plyler v. Doe Supreme Court Ruling (1982):
The court stated that undocumented immigrant children have the same right to
a free public education as U.S. citizens and permanent residents. School officials may not require students to prove they are in
the United States legally, and schools should avoid attempts to document students’ status.
7. Dear Colleague Letter from U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education’s Office
for Civil Rights (2015): Letter to state departments of education and school districts emphasizing 10 areas that must be upheld to ensure that ELLs are receiving an equitable education and to reinforce prior rulings in favor of ELLs receiving appropriate language, academic and social supports.
children must have access to an education, food and other resources during this pandemic, and it is our expectation that ELLs will benefit from supplementary funding provided by the recent CARES (Coronavirus Assistance, Relief, and Economic Security) Act legislation. In a recent survey by the Migration Policy Institute and the National Association of English Learner Program Administrators, the following priorities for ELLs during this emergency were identified:
• Support for increasing access to technology;
• Training for teachers on instructional strategies to support ELLs in a distance/online learning environment;
• Information for ELLs and their families, in their home languages, about preventive measures to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and to stay healthy;
• Information for ELLs and their families, in their home languages, on school closures, social support measures such as meal distribution, and detailed instructions on home-based learning; and
• Specific support for ELLs from migrant farmworker families.
key points:
• State and local education agencies must ensure compliance with all the aforementioned laws and policies, which should not prevent any school from offering educational programs through distance instruction.
• School districts must provide a free and appropriate public education consistent with the need to protect the health and safety of students with disabilities and those providing education, specialized instruction and related services to ELLs.
• School districts must ensure that instructional remediation for ELLs addresses English language proficiency lags or losses as well as advancement in academic core content subjects.
