It's the Brian Larishow on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. Now we'll look at a quiet but

potentially significant policy change that could have consequences for students learning English

in schools across the country if English is not their first language. On March 1st of this year,

President Trump signed an executive order, quote, designating English as the official language of

the United States. Now, that might be a kind of culture war

declaration. But while the order itself did not require or direct any change in services,

it did revoke a previous executive order from the end of Bill Clinton's presidency

that improved access to services for people with limited English proficiency.

So now, here we are a few months later, and suddenly actions in accordance with this executive

order are taking place.

Last week, the Department of Education suddenly rescinded what's known as a Dear Colleague

letter.

It was a document detailing best practices for educators serving students, learning

English as a second language.

So joining me now to discuss what this could mean for schools, families, our nation as a whole,

and more than 5 million students currently learning English in public schools across the country

are Ileana Najarro,

reporter for Education Week, covering race and opportunity in U.S. schools,

and Kate Mencken, Professor of Linguistics and a research fellow at the Research Institute

for the Study of Language in an Urban Society at Queens College, part of CUNY and Queens, of course, and co-editor

and chief of the journal Language Policy.

Ileana, Kate, welcome to WNYC.

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