DELAWARE - A new open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware argues the state is failing to meet its constitutional obligations to multi-language learners in public schools, citing years of underfunding, staffing shortages and lagging academic performance.
The May 5 letter to members of the Delaware General Assembly outlines the organization's growing concerns in how the state supports students learning English, warning that legal action could follow if changes are not made.
The ACLU points to a 2018 education funding lawsuit that led to the creation of Opportunity Funding for low-income students and multi-language learners, along with an independent review by the American Institutes for Research. That report found Delaware schools were underfunding students with disabilities, multi-language learners and low-income students by roughly $600 million to $1 billion.
Despite that finding, lawmakers have added about $66 million in Opportunity Funding over six years, according to the letter, far short of what advocates say is needed.
Data included in the letter shows multi-language learners consistently falling behind state academic targets. According to charts on page 5 of the document, these students trailed English proficiency progress goals by an average of nearly 14 percent between the 2021-22 and 2024-25 school years. In core subjects, the gaps are even larger, with multi-language learners averaging about 50 percent below state goals in language arts and nearly 43 percent below in math during that same period.
The ACLU argues those outcomes reflect systemic issues, including a lack of certified teachers trained in English language instruction, limited access to specialized support and insufficient administrative resources.
The letter also highlights barriers beyond the classroom. Translation services and tools used to communicate with families have faced budget cuts for fiscal year 2027, and key education systems do not fully support multiple languages. As a result, ACLU says families may miss important school communications or struggle to navigate services such as individualized education programs.
The organization contends these conditions violate both Delaware’s constitutional requirement to provide an adequate public education and guarantees of equal rights regardless of national origin.
The letter urges lawmakers to significantly increase funding, improve staffing and overhaul policies affecting multi-language learners. It also warns that failure to act could lead to another lawsuit.
