The ESSA Waiver Landscape and Implications for K-12 English Learners

As states begin to take up the U.S. Secretary of Education’s offer to apply for waivers to their obligations under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, there are significant implications for English Learner (EL) students around the country. In July 2025, the U.S. Department of Education issued a letter encouraging states to seek waivers to their federal mandate to improve student academic achievement and maximize the impact of federal education funding. One state, Iowa, received waiver approval, and several other states have begun the waiver request process. ESSA outlines statutory requirements that not only fund public education, but also provide guardrails to ensure all students, regardless of their background or community, have access to a quality education that prepares them to achieve in today’s world. The law also grants the Secretary of Education the authority to waive certain requirements outlined in the law, which has long been viewed as ensuring that ELs and all other students receive an equitable, quality education. While states have long had the ability to seek waivers, the Trump administration’s efforts to end the federal role in education, including by diminishing civil-rights oversight of schools, and attempts to cut program funding for particular populations, such as ELs, underscore the importance of understanding the potential implications of these actions for ELs and their communities. This webinar brings together a panel of experts to discuss the ESSA waiver process and requirements, an overview of current state waivers and their objectives, and what these developments mean in practice for ELs and the schools they attend. Speakers include: Megan Hopkins, Professor & Chair, Department of Education Studies, University of California, San Diego Trish Morita-Mullaney, Professor, English Language Learning, Purdue University Dave Powell, Senior Consultant, Education First Delia Pompa, Senior Fellow for Education Policy, MPI More information:

You can listen to The ESSA Waiver Landscape and Implications for K-12 English Learners online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The ESSA Waiver Landscape and Implications for K-12 English Learners is an episode from Migration Policy Institute Podcasts by Migration Policy Institute.

This episode is 60:41 long.

This episode was published on Mar 23, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Migration Policy Institute Podcasts when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.