In May, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) closed the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) office to “ensure better alignment of programs” for English learners. As a result, a 22 U.S. Senators sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on June 2, 2026 demanding answers over the U.S. Department of Education’s closure of the Office of English Language Acquisition last month. In that letter, the Democratic and Independent senators said that the decision “will have devastating and lasting consequences for the education of more than five million English learner students nationwide.” 

The letter also claims that portions of the Department of Education Organization Act, which established the agency in 1979, also “require the establishment of OELA.” and that the USDE “remains statutorily responsible for administering the programs that Congress has assigned to OELA through multiple authorization and appropriations laws.” 

In their letter, the senators asked the USDE to respond within 30 days with information, including what role the Labor Department will play in administering Title III programs, what steps the USDE has taken to ensure compliance with all statutory requirements, and whether the USDE will publicly release a transition and implementation plan.

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