Amelia Larson and Luis Valentino warn state and Local Education Agencies against throwing away this shot The Closure of OELA: A Historic Leadership Shift Across the United States, approximately five million K–12 students are identified as English languagelearners.¹ This rapidly growing and diverse group brings a wealth of cultural and linguistic strengths that, when recognized and supported, can enrich the learning environment for all students. However, realizing this potential demands strategic clarity about desired outcomes for multilingual learners (MLLs) and systematic, linguistically responsive approaches to measuring impact—ensuring that language development, content mastery, and cross-linguistic assets are all valued and visible.

UnidosUS and 123 organizations have requested the inclusion of $1 billion for the English Language Acquisition grant program, authorized by Title III of