Dive Brief:
- Around 8,800 teachers are among those who will be impacted by the outcome of battles between Congress and the Trump administration over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, NPR reports.
- Districts nationwide have hired teachers on work permits under the program, but many could face deportation if the program is ended.
- The judicial system could also still weigh in on the matter and overturn any decision made by the legislative or administrative branches, with NPR reporting that teacher unions and the National School Boards Association are among those supporting lawsuits protecting teachers working under DACA permits.
Dive Insight:
The 690,000 undocumented immigrants currently protected by DACA also includes many students. Schools and districts have made strides in recent years to better serve this population by improving programs for English language learners, many of whom come from Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. In many cases, these programs have also offered a dual benefit for English-speaking students when a dual-language approach is embraced. Benefits cited have included the rare chance to integrate students with different backgrounds with relatively little backlash.
A significant hurdle administrators may face should a DACA decision result in the threat of mass deportations, aside from the overall loss of teaching talent, is potential difficulty in hiring bilingual educators who can replace those lost in these dual-language programs.
