We write with deep dismay about the unwarranted and unprecedented Reductions in Force at the U.S. Department of Education (DoE), particularly with regard to the education of English Learners. We implore you to follow the swift legal response of the Attorneys General to halt and reverse this decision and demand the immediate restoration of critical English Learner education offices and employees.

The current Administration, via Secretary Linda McMahon, has enacted a near-complete Reduction in Force of the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), authorized in the 1979 Department of Education Organization Act, effectively abolishing this office. OELA staff administers statutory funds connected to key English Learner programs, including ESEA Title III grants, which ensure English Learners have resources to attain language proficiency and meet academic standards. How will protected, statutory funds be dispersed with no staff? Furthermore, there is urgent danger with widening achievement gaps, as shown in recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, eliminating OELA’s expert staff is deeply concerning and harmful to students, especially those in underserved groups.

OELA staff are dedicated experts in our field with decades of experience who meticulously administer and carefully monitor hundreds of millions of statutory dollars in active National Professional Development (NPD) grants to institutes of higher education and other organizations nationwide to support programs that prepare teachers of English Learners. The ongoing educational crisis related to the current teacher shortage in our region (the northeast, specifically MA, CT, and RI) is particularly devastating for schools with large populations of English Learners. These NPD grants are essential to rebuilding our English Learner teacher pipeline and their funds have been constitutionally appropriated by Congress. 

As you know, our region has seen exponential growth of our English Learner populations over the last decade (55% increase in CT, 12% in RI, 46% in MA) even with recent decreases in the overall student population (6% in CT, 5% in RI, 4% in MA). The loss of OELA threatens the legal and effective operation of key programs to serve this growing population and their teachers. We implore you to demand the Department reverse this decision and reinstate these offices.

Multistate Association for Bilingual Education, Northeast www.mabene.org
admin@mabene.org  
Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn: @MABEnortheast
MABE-Northeast, PO Box 281, Ashland, MA 01721

MABE invites you to share this public statement with your Representatives, Senators, and state Commissioner/Secretary of Education. 

1. Email Your Representative/Senator 

   • Find your Representatives and Senators here 

   • Enter your address/zip code into “find your member by address” 

   • Click on “contact” for Representative/Senator, which will lead you to their website where you can email/contact them  

   • Copy the highlighted message below and email your Representative/Senator - feel free to personalize it (such as adding your email signature so the recipient knows who you are) 

2. Call Your Representative/Senator. Phone calls are one of the best ways to make an impact! 

   • Find your Representatives and Senators here

   • Enter your address/zip code into “find your member by address” 

   • Find their phone number under “contact” 

   • Read them the first paragraph of the highlighted message below - feel free to personalize it (such as adding an introduction that identifies who you are) 

3. Email your Commissioner/Secretary of Education for your state

   • MA: Patrick.Tutwiler@mass.gov 

   • CT: Charlene.russell-tucker@ct.gov 

   • RI: angelica.infantegreen@ride.ri.gov 

   • NH: Louis.F.Edelblut@doe.nh.gov 

   • ME: info.doe@maine.gov 

   • NY: commissioner@nysed.gov 

   • If not listed above, look here or in your state’s official webpage which you can find 

4. Share our social media posts about this: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter @MABEnortheast 

I write with deep dismay about the unwarranted and unprecedented Reductions in Force at the U.S. Department of Education (DoE), particularly with regard to the education of English Learners. I implore you to follow the swift legal response of the Attorneys General to halt and reverse this decision and demand the immediate restoration of critical English Learner education offices and employees.

The current Administration, via Secretary Linda McMahon, has enacted a near-complete Reduction in Force of the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), authorized in the 1979 Department of Education Organization Act, effectively abolishing this office. OELA staff administers statutory funds connected to key English Learner programs, including ESEA Title III grants, which ensure English Learners have resources to attain language proficiency and meet academic standards. How will protected, statutory funds be dispersed with no staff? Furthermore, there is urgent danger with widening achievement gaps, as shown in recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, eliminating OELA’s expert staff is deeply concerning and harmful to students, especially those in underserved groups.

OELA staff are dedicated experts in our field with decades of experience who meticulously administer and carefully monitor hundreds of millions of statutory dollars in active National Professional Development (NPD) grants to institutes of higher education and other organizations nationwide to support programs that prepare teachers of English Learners. The ongoing educational crisis related to the current teacher shortage in our region (the northeast, specifically MA, CT, and RI) is particularly devastating for schools with large populations of English Learners. These NPD grants are essential to rebuilding our English Learner teacher pipeline and their funds have been constitutionally appropriated by Congress. 

As you know, our region has seen exponential growth of our English Learner populations over the last decade (55% increase in CT, 12% in RI, 46% in MA) even with recent decreases in the overall student population (6% in CT, 5% in RI, 4% in MA). The loss of OELA threatens the legal and effective operation of key programs to serve this growing population and their teachers. I implore you to demand the Department reverse this decision and reinstate these offices.

Created in collaboration with MABE, Multistate Association for Bilingual Education, Northeast.