Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke Supports Withdrawal of English-Only Head Start Proposal

WASHINGTON,  DC — Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has joined Tri-Caucus leaders in the United States House of Representatives in demanding the Trump administration’s withdrawal of what they described as “harmful” an English-only head start proposal.

Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, has joined the leaders in sending a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. opposing HHS’s proposed head start rule, which would mandate English-only instruction and eliminate longstanding language-access protections for children and families.

Clarke told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that head start is “a critical programme that provides high-quality early childhood education and comprehensive support services for low-income children and their families.”

Clarke said while the legislators are urging HHS to withdraw the proposed rule in its entirety, their letter focuses “specifically on its harmful changes to language-access protections”.

She said nearly 40 per cent of children enrolled in head start are dual-language learners, representing almost 290,000 children nationwide, and 30 per cent of enrollees come from families whose primary home language is not English.

In the letter, the legislators explain that dual-language instruction helps children learn English and prepare for school.

“We share the goal of ensuring that every head start child develops strong English-language skills. But requiring English-only instruction is not supported by the evidence and risks undermining that very goal.

“For many children, head start is their first experience in a classroom, providing an environment in which young children can understand, communicate, and participate supports their ability to learn and successfully transition into school.”

They also warn that the proposed rule conflicts with Congress’s explicit directives in the Head Start Act.

“Congress directed the Secretary to establish standards ensuring that children with limited English proficiency make progress toward acquiring English while simultaneously making meaningful progress in other developmental domains, including through ‘culturally and linguistically appropriate instructional services,” the letter states..

“Congress further directed the Secretary, when revising head start standards, to ensure that revisions do not eliminate or reduce the quality, scope, or types of educational, parental-involvement, health, or other services required under longstanding Head Start standards,” it adds.

The legislators say that the Head Start Act explicitly requires agencies to ensure teachers receive literacy training ‘in methods to promote vocabulary development and phonological awareness in a developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate manner and support children’s development in their native language”.

They said that they are “particularly concerned” about the consequences for developmental screenings and assessments, noting that the Head Start Act requires measures used by Head Start programmes to be “developmentally, linguistically, and culturally appropriate; valid and reliable in the language in which they are administered; administered by appropriately trained staff; and accompanied by appropriate accommodations for children with limited English proficiency.

“These protections are critical.  A screening or assessment administered in a language a young child does not sufficiently understand risks mistaking normal second-language development for a developmental delay or, conversely, failing to identify a genuine disability or developmental concern.

“Either outcome could delay appropriate early intervention at precisely the age when it can make the greatest difference,” they wrote in the letter.