Millions of English-Learner Students to Benefit from New Rules
BY LAKSHMI GANDHI
Education advocates are lauding the release of new Department of Education guidelines, meant to ensure that English Learner (EL) students are able to "meaningfully participate" in school. School districts and states will now be legally required to provide resources for these students and could possibly face legal consequences for not doing so.
"EL students are now enrolled in nearly three out of every four public schools in the nation, they constitute nine percent of all public school students, and their numbers are steadily increasing," the Department of Education and the Department of Justice wrote in a roll-out letter to educators this month. "It is crucial to the future of our nation that these students, and all students, have equal access to a high quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential.