IDRA Federal Update – July 30, 2025
By Morgan Craven J.D.
After weeks of advocacy from students, families, teachers, advocates and policymakers across the political spectrum, the U.S. Department of Education will finally release billions of dollars of funds that were promised to public schools across the country.
Congress had already appropriated the funds for programs that support English learners, academic enrichment programs, teacher training education for migrant students, family engagement, and after-school and summer programs.
But, at the end of June, school districts across the country were notified by the U.S. Department of Education they would not receive the funds by July 1, as they’d been expecting. The notice emphasized that any questions about the funds should be sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which claimed it was reviewing how the funds were being used.
The administration’s withholding of funds disrupted school districts’ budgets and the critical planning they were doing to provide much-needed support to students, teachers and families.
For example, Austin ISD reported that it was expecting to receive $9.6 million that the district planned to use to support 109 staff positions, programs that serve approximately 22,000 English learner students, and curriculum development.
Similarly, districts across the country, in every state, in rural, suburban, and urban communities scrambled to figure out how they would make their budgets work to serve the students in their public schools if the monies were not released.
The administration’s release of funds came after pressure from a diverse group of people and communities. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia and a coalition of districts and teacher organizations filed lawsuits demanding the release of funds. Students, teachers and families made calls and sent emails and letters to their state and federal elected officials. Advocates made calls to action and shared stories of impact. And policymakers from different political parties contacted the OMB demanding the funds be released.
This type of advocacy that is done in the name of children and public education rather than for political ideology must continue as we face more threats to funding and critical federal supports for children and public schools.
Lau v. Nichols: The Critical Supreme Court Case that Protects English Learners
Students who speak a language other than English have the right to accessible instruction in school that fosters learning. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that merely providing the basic facilities, textbooks and curriculum to English learners without addressing their language-learning needs denies them meaningful access to education and violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This decision, and other federal regulations, require schools to affirmatively take steps to support the language-learning needs of English learner children.
Learn more about the background of the Lau v. Nichols case and what it means for children and public schools today:
- Read: Language Rights are Civil Rights – 50th Anniversary of the Lau v. Nichols Ruling, by Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., IDRA Newsletter, April 2024
- Video replay: For the 50th anniversary of the Lau v. Nichols decision IDRA co-hosted a commemorative webinar via Claremont Graduate University School of Educational Studies. Celina Moreno, J.D., IDRA President & CEO, spoke alongside the Lau plaintiff lawyer, school superintendents, policy experts and academics. They discussed the policy and practice implications of the ruling through to today.
- Fun read: Legal Basis of Bilingual Education – An Excerpt, article by Dr. José A. Cárdenas, 1976
For more information about IDRA’s work to support English learners, see our resources here or contact Morgan Craven, J.D., IDRA’s National Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement at morgan.craven@idra.org.
Get Advocacy Tools
Check out IDRA’s SEEN website. This is a forum for concerned parents and caregivers, students, community members, and organizational and coalition friends who advocate for public education and student success across the U.S. South.
Our SEEN (Southern Education Equity Network) forum is built upon the belief that there is great power in communities coming together to create change.
