ELL News Headlines

Bay Area school districts stand to lose millions of federal dollars budgeted for programs that support English language learners, children of migrant families and others this fall after the Trump administration made a last-minute move to freeze funding for the fiscal year that begins Tuesday.

The Trump administration’s abruptly announced decision to withhold $6.8 billion in federal education funds approved four months ago by Congress touched off a frenzy of chaos, confusion, and cost-cutting for schools across the country on Tuesday, with immediate and far-reaching implications for K-12 students, staff, and administrators.

About 1 in 3 students in California’s K-12 schools speak a language other than English at home and were not fluent in English when they first started school — 1,918,385 students — according to data from the 2024-25 school year.

On Monday, the Trump administration notified states that it was withholding over $6 billion in previously approved federal education grants to schools. The announcement came a day before the July 1 deadline when those funds have traditionally been dispersed, and will likely impact school districts' plans for the fall.

Schools are scrambling to plan for what could become a massive budget hole after the Trump administration said Monday it would not release nearly $7 billion in K-12 education funds that had been expected to go out July 1. The withheld funds, which were approved by Congress earlier this year, include all $890 million meant to help English learners develop their language skills and $375 million to provide academic support to the children of migrant farmworkers, according to an email that was sent to states by the U.S. Department of Education and obtained by Education Week.

English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers are more likely than the overall teacher population to seek specific professional development on changing curriculum and how to interact with parents and families, according to newly analyzed survey data.

When the U.S. Department of Education laid off thousands of employees earlier this year amid the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate the agency, it threw hundreds of schools into limbo over the future of a key federal grant program tied to supporting English learners. The National Professional Development (NPD) grant program, run by the Education Department’s office for English language acquisition, or OELA, provides universities and nonprofit organizations with funding to partner with school districts for in-service teacher training, micro-credentialing, and alternative pathways to teacher licensure specifically focused on serving English learners.

As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids ramp up across California, so have reports of family members — and sometimes students themselves — being detained or deported. Listen to how immigration enforcement is affecting families, how teachers are stepping up to help, and what school staff need to keep in mind.

An educator explains how students can more easily access common supports like visuals, sentence frames, and pair-share.

The Trump administration is holding back nearly $6.8 billion in federal funding for K-12 schools it was scheduled to dole out July 1, Education Department staff told state education agencies on Monday afternoon—the day before the funding, by law, was required to start flowing. The funding is earmarked for English learners, migrant students, professional development, academic services, out-of-school time, and more.