“The only thing that is disappointing is how the school has to take on the responsibility to teach these kids English. This should be something that the kids have to do on their own time outside of school. We should not have to modify or change anything about the way we teach our classes to accommodate them.”
A public high school science teacher in Texas shared that opinion anonymously in a free-response section of an October 2024 EdWeek Research Center survey. The survey had asked educators about their use of artificial intelligence technologies to support multilingual learners, and the quality of vendor-provided resources for these students.
Last year, EdWeek Research Center researchers conducting these national surveys of teachers, principals, and district leaders noticed—for the first time—an increase in free responses expressing frustration over schools’ federal responsibilities to support students learning the English language.
Then, President Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term. School leaders suddenly found themselves fielding questions about his day one changes to federal immigration policies, including revoking a U.S. Department of Homeland Security memo that had designated schools as “protected areas” from immigration enforcement. Then came an executive order declaring English the national language, raising more questions from experts.
To get a clearer picture of educators’ opinions on English learners’ and immigrant students’ rights, the EdWeek Research Center conducted a survey in February explicitly asking educators whether they support federal laws mandating language services for English learners, and guaranteeing access to free, public education for undocumented students.
The results: While educators overall support such laws and oppose immigration enforcement in schools, sharp partisan divides emerge when responses are broken down by whether respondents voted for Kamala Harris the incumbent vice president, and Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, or Donald Trump, the president from 2017 to 2021, and JD Vance, the junior U.S. senator from Ohio in last year’s election.
These partisan divides persisted even among educators working directly with English learners and/or immigrant students.
Explore key findings below.
Political divides run deep on immigration raids in schools
While 85 percent of educators overall oppose immigration enforcement in schools, a stark partisan divide emerges. Ninety-nine percent of Harris voters felt immigration officials should not be permitted to make arrests or carry out raids in schools compared to 58 percent of Trump voters.
The divide is similar when educators were asked about immigration enforcement—such as arrests or raids—at their own schools. Eighty-six percent overall oppose these actions, including 98 percent of Harris voters and 63 percent of Trump voters.
Partisan split among educators on federal language policies
English learners account for about 10 percent of U.S. public school students and represent one of the fastest-growing groups driving public school enrollment. Most are born in the United States, though some are immigrants of varying legal status.
A 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision in, Lau v. Nichols requires schools to provide English instruction to students who cannot access learning due to language barriers. However, a recent executive order declaring English the official language of the United States has left questions about how schools will comply—whether through English-only instruction or multilingual instruction.
When asked about this federal requirement for English-language support, 87 percent of Harris voters support these requirements compared to 63 percent of Trump voters.
Trump voters were also more likely to report feeling neutral about this requirement (23 percent neither agreeing nor disagreeing) and more likely to oppose them (14 percent) as compared to Harris voters.
Undocumented student education
A 1982 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe granted undocumented students the constitutional right to a free, public education. This year, lawmakers in some states have introduced efforts to challenge this precedent.
A political divide among educators extends to supporting undocumented student education, with 85 percent of Harris voters in favor of mandates granting these students a right to a free, public education versus 31 percent of Trump voters.
How does exposure to English learners affect educators’ views?
As the English-learner and immigrant student populations grow nationwide, educators’ exposure to these students has grown as well.
Most educators (74 percent) say their schools serve both foreign-born students and English learners, while 11 percent serve neither population.
Seventy-eight percent of Harris voters work in schools with both foreign-born and English-learner students compared to 69 percent of Trump voters.
Trump voters are significantly more likely to work in schools with neither foreign-born nor English-learner student populations (13 percent compared to 8 percent of Harris voters).
The EdWeek Research Center broke down responses to questions about federal mandates by whether educators worked directly with English learners and/or immigrant students. Even when accounting for exposure to these student groups, partisan divides among respondents remained.
Among educators serving both foreign-born and English-learner students: 87 percent of Harris voters support federal laws requiring schools to educate immigrant students regardless of legal status, compared to 35 percent of Trump voters.
Among educators working with English learners only: 53 percent of Trump voters oppose this right, while 82 percent of Harris voters and 23 percent of Trump voters are in support.
Political ideology also intersected with exposure to student groups regarding opinions on laws mandating language support.
Among educators serving both foreign-born and English-learner students, 88 percent of Harris voters and 69 percent of Trump voters support these laws. The gap widens significantly among educators who serve neither population—with 81 percent of Harris voters supporting such laws, compared to 46 percent of Trump voters.
Urban-rural/town divides in educator views
Educators in urban schools are significantly more likely to serve both immigrant and EL populations (87 percent) compared to those in rural or town schools (61 percent).
Urban-area educators are more likely to support English-language support requirements (86 percent versus 71 percent rural/town) and immigrant student education (72 percent vs 58 percent working in rural/towns).
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