With the 2015 passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the oversight of language policy in U.S. schools shifted from federal to state governance. Although the education of students officially designated as English learners (ELs) has historically been grounded in federal law, we argue that ELs’ educational experiences are also largely influenced by societal attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. Using a critical policy analysis (CPA) approach, we examine how 12 states’ immigrant policy contexts are associated with the EL educational policies articulated in their ESSA implementation plans. We find that states’ demographic and immigrant policy contexts combine to produce four distinct approaches toward EL education, from departing to approaching equity.

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Schools often experience rapid turnover among teachers of color. Yet research and practice highlight the importance of teachers of color in the K–12 education system. As such, school and district-level administrators, educational leaders, and students need to conceptualize and develop new approaches aimed at sustaining Indigenous and Latinx public school teachers. This case study describes a community-based organization’s efforts to support and sustain new and established Indigenous and Latinx teachers during COVID-19. Recognizing the problem with retention about 7 years ago, two university professors decided to create Academia Cuauhtli, a community-based organization in Austin, Texas. In addition to serving as a cultural and language revitalization Saturday school program for students from third to fifth grade, the space also promotes the curricular recognition of alternative epistemologies and the development of culturally relevant pedagogies that foster students’ culture, language, and funds of knowledge via teacher professional development pláticas. Since its inception in 2014, Academia Cuauhtli has been able to successfully train and sustain more than 60 public school teachers. However, COVID-19 has created a new set of challenges for teachers and, in particular, for Indigenous and Latinx teachers.

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