How Trump's plan to make Head Start English-only would hit L.A. classrooms
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Set us as preferred Meiqian Kuang switches seamlessly between Mandarin and English as she teaches her transitional kindergarten students at Hillcrest Elementary in Monterey Park.Signs in English, Mandarin, Spanish and Vietnamese decorate the classroom, reflecting the most common languages students speak.
This dual-language class is also a federally funded Head Start program — long considered a gold standard in early childhood education — and must integrate learning with each child’s cultural and linguistic upbringing.But an overhaul of Head Start rules proposed by the Trump administration in August would fundamentally change that mission by mandating English-only classroom instruction.The proposed change would remove standards that require teachers or aides to speak the predominant home language of their students.
Children’s developmental screenings and assessments would not be required to be conducted in a family’s language of choice.Essential materials for parents would no longer have to be translated.Books, toys and curriculum materials in foreign languages would be purged from classrooms under the changes.
The proposal suggests that school staff could use technology-based translation when they need to talk to families as communication avenues weaken.Engage with our community-funded journalism as we delve into child care, transitional kindergarten, health and other issues affecting children from birth through age 5.The proposed changes for dual-language learners — which would hit Los Angeles County and California’s diverse population hard — are part of the Trump administration’s overhaul of Head Start.
Plans also call for eliminating teacher-student staff ratios, defaulting caps to the licensing requirements of each state.It also seeks to remove current standards for developmental and health screenings...