WASHINGTON, D.C, January 16, 2025 - As the 119th Congress opens and the Trump-Vance Administration prepares to take office, JNCL-NCLIS is already working to ensure that key players in the Trump-Vance Transition Team are aware of the value of language education. To that end, we have prepared a detailed Transition Memo that outlines the language education value proposition and explains our specific legislative and funding priorities. We encourage you to review this document and circulate it throughout our community.
The JNCL-NCLIS Transition Memo is aimed not just at the Trump-Vance Transition Team charged with the Department of Education’s transition to the new Administration but also at the Trump-Vance Transition Teams that have landed at the Departments and Federal Agencies responsible for Homeland Security, Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and State. We have done this because language education is critical to fulfilling their missions, duties and obligations to citizens and residents of the United States.Â
Specifically, we make the following key points about language education in this memo:
The U.S. continues to experience a language education crisis that has significant ramifications for many facets of American life.
Compared to other nations, the United States government provides only limited support for language education.
In the U.S., language education is under attack at each and every education level – from higher education, where programs and entire Departments are sustaining cuts and eliminations, to K-12, where schools face critical language educator shortages and reduced language education requirements.
The lack of Americans’ language skills is having a deleterious impact on our nation’s economy, with businesses unable to find multilingual employees and losing business as a result.
This language crisis also has very real implications for communication in the workplace and can cause safety issues.
Language proficiency continues to be a problem for protecting our nation from attack and prosecuting its military and intelligence missions abroad.
The inability of Americans to speak a language other than English creates significant issues in a health care setting as medical staff cannot communicate with the millions of U.S. residents who do not speak English at all or have limited English proficiency.
The limited number of U.S. citizens with language skills is compromising the effectiveness of the State Department’s embassy and diplomatic work.
To help ameliorate these issues, JNCL-NCLIS’s Transition Memo offers a wide-array of legislative and regulatory proposals to multiple Federal Agencies:
1. Department of Education
Support federal programs such as ESEA Titles II-A, III, and IV-A for professional development and dual language programs.
Pass the World Language Education Assistance Program (World LEAP) to establish K-12 language grants.
Support the Biliteracy Educational Seal and Testing (BEST) Act to expand Seal of Biliteracy programs.
Invest in higher education language programs under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.
Mandate language education data collection through updates to the Educational Sciences and Reform Act.
2. Department of Defense
Restore WLARA funding to at least $15 million and expand eligibility to all school districts.
Reinstate or replace the STARTALK program to support critical language teacher training.
Restore funding to The Language Flagship program.
3. Department of Homeland Security
Expand federal investment in language training for personnel involved in homeland security and intelligence.
Increase funding for the Defense Language Institute and The Language Flagship Program.
4. Department of Labor
Support initiatives through the National Apprenticeship Act, the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act or other new or existing programs that provide credentials to apprentices or CTE students that demonstrate proficiency in languages other than English.Â
Translate workplace manuals and develop training materials in frequently spoken non-English languages.
Fund language education for supervisors and employers to improve workplace communication.
5. Department of Health and Human Services
Develop programs to train interpreters and translators with specialized medical knowledge.
Support initiatives to improve access to language services in healthcare settings.
6. Department of State
Pass the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Act to expand study abroad opportunities and encourage language learning.
Increase funding for scholarships and exchange programs like the Gilman International Scholarship and Critical Language Scholarship.
This Transition Memo is but the start of our efforts to protect the federal language education programs that already exist and create new policy and funding streams that will address America’s language crisis. Stay tuned for more news of our work on all of these fronts.
The full memo can be downloaded at the following link: https://bit.ly/4fUQPL7
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About JNCL-NCLIS:Â Established in 1972, the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL) and the National Council for Languages and International Studies (NCLIS) unites a national network of leading organizations and businesses comprised of over 300,000 language professionals to advocate for equitable language learning opportunities. Our mission is to ensure that Americans have the opportunity to learn English and at least one other language.
Contact:Â info@languagepolicy.org