SR0456 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0456 LRB104 15737 MST 28922 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The education of all children, the provision of specialized services for each subgroup of students attending Illinois schools, including overcoming language barriers for English learner students, and the provision of language access services for parents with limited English proficiency should be things that the State of Illinois strives to accomplish; and

WHEREAS, Illinois statute requires the identification of English learner students, requires school districts to establish a transitional bilingual education (TBE) program when an attendance center has an enrollment of 20 or more English learners of the same language classification, and requires assessment of English learners to determine their specific programmatic needs; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois serves over 225,000 English learner students in its schools, accounting for more than 16% of all its students; and

WHEREAS, The majority of English learners in Illinois were born in the U.S., and all English learners are entitled to a free and appropriate public education, including services for English learners to help them overcome language barriers and participate in the educational programs offered by Illinois school districts to the same degree that non-English learner students participate; and

WHEREAS, President Donald Trump's proposed budget for FY2026 eliminates the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Title III funding, which supports educational programs for English learners' attainment of English proficiency and improvement of academic achievement; and

WHEREAS, Executive Order 14224 declared English to be the official language of the United States of America yet revoked Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency, which required all federal agencies to develop plans on how they would provide language assistance services to the populations they serve; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge President Donald Trump to stop the actions of the administration that are impacting or eliminating educational funding, educational supports, and educational services provided to English learner students, limited English proficient parents, and the educators that serve these students; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge federal lawmakers to instead prioritize the maintenance and improvement of educational services for English learner students, maintain and provide for increases to ESSA Title III funding aligned with inflationary measures and other appropriate funding to support educational services for English learner students and the educators that serve them, maintain and provide for language access services for parents with limited English proficiency, and ensure the educational rights of all students guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader, and all members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.