Advocating for English Learners at the 2025 TESOL International Advocacy Summit

Leah Granstrom, Norah Harper Godderz, Sergio Madrid

The 2025 TESOL International Advocacy Summit was held in Washington, D.C. from June 16th to 18th. The Advocacy Summit is a three-day advocacy event that brings together educators and leaders from around the country to advocate for legislation, funding, and support for English learners (ELs) in education. This experience provided a channel for collaboration with advocates from across the US and a space to explore the nature of the legislation and funding that impact our English learners. Key issues explored this year included Title I, II, and III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, and support for the maintenance of the U.S. Department of Education. In our meetings with members of Congress, we provided our personal narratives to paint a clear and real picture of the impact of legislation and funding on students. We extend our gratitude to MinneTESOL and TESOL International for providing this opportunity to both ex

pand our knowledge and voice our experiences and concerns   As educators, our expertise is the classroom. The workshop offered valuable insights from policy experts, union leaders, congressional staffers, and other experts in their respective fields. From these presenters, we learned the great risk federal education funding is in posed by this current political landscape. These presentations offered the opportunity to connect our personal experiences in the classroom to the precise laws and bills that impact our work. As we move forward in our careers, the Advocacy Summit created the first step on a journey of advocacy

beyond the classroom.    Highlights of the TESOL’s Advocacy Action Day

• On the evening of Monday, June 16th, we were warmly welcomed at TESOL International headquarters, where we met several other
  

  

  advocates from around the country (Figure 4). This evening provided a welcoming space to share stories with other educators and explore the context of English education in other states. Additionally, we had the opportunity to engage in meaningful and inspiring conversations with various education leaders, including Giselle Lundy-Ponce, Director of the AFL-CIO. In this space, we jumped into the role of advocates, exploring ways to apply our expertise in the political world (figure 3).

• On Tuesday, June 17th, we began the work of preparing for our congressional meetings. It was a busy day, beginning with an overview of policy updates from Jeff Hutcheson, TESOL Director of Advocacy and Public Policy (Figure 5). Following this overview, Julie Sugarman from the Migration Policy Institute gave a detailed presentation on the federal context of PreK-12 public education policy. This included
  

  

  information on immigration enforcement and schools, the status of Title III, shrinking and reorganizing of the U.S. Department of Education, the termination of grants and contracts, and ESSA waivers. This established the basis of our specific requests for our Congress members. Montserrat Garibay, Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition, delivered a keynote speech that was both moving andengaging (Figure 6). In th

• e afternoon, our focus was on adult education and higher education, with presentations offering an overview of the federal context of each. To conclude the afternoon, three congressional staffers participated in a panel discussion, offering advocates insight on how to prepare for actual conversations with staff and members of Congress. This final presentation solidified our confidence in our ability to make the most of our congressional meetings. 
• June 18th,
  

  

  2025, was the day scheduled for advocates to meet with their respective Congress members (Figure 2).  We set off to Capitol Hill, where we prepared to meet with our Representatives to advocate for their support regarding education funding and legislation. We received folders with “leave-behinds” for members of TESOL International’s primary asks and were prepped in the morning with breakfast by Jeff Hutchenson (Figure 1). Ready to embark, we spent the rest of the day in the House of Representatives and Senate Buildings meeting with our Congress Members from Minnesota. This included meetings with education staffers from Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Betty McCollum, Rep. Tom Emmer, Senator Tina Smith, and Rep. Angie Craig. In many of our meetings, support for our requests was evident. We remain in contact with congressional staffers moving

  

  forward and hope to strengthen our relationships with our congressional teams in order to secure education funding and relevant legislation.

With an entirely different political landscape from last year, our major asks included:

1. Support for the maintenance of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). The Trump administration seeks to dismantle the USDE. This is a move that Representative Tom Emmer (R) is backing and largely leading. We discussed our concerns for the disruption to public education if this moves forward with no structured and established plan. We advocated for the Department to remain functional rather than being absorbed by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). 
2. Distribution of Title I, II, and III of the ESEA for FY2025, which was set to be released on July 1st, 2025. During the workshops, we were informed that Title III funds had not yet been released, which was very unusual. At our meetings, we shared our concern that these funds had not yet reached our school districts. This caused concern that the funds our districts were anticipating for FY2025 would not show up. At our meeting with Tom Emmer’s Congressional Staffer, Liz Stinebaugh, we were told to follow up if these funds were not released. As of July 1st, 2025, we found out that several pockets of funds from Title I, II, III, and IV are being intentionally withheld by the Trump administration. Upon hearing this news, we once again raised the alarm among our Congress members about this issue. 
3. Level or increased funding for Title I, II, and III of the ESEA for FY2026. As we discussed Title I, II, and III funding for FY2025, we also asked for the continuation of these funds for FY2026. In President Donald Trump’s proposed budget, Titles II and III and portions of Title I are completely eliminated. These portions of the ESEA support low-income students, English learners, and professional development for educators. In our meetings, we shared our concern for the grave impacts that would ensue if these funds were to be discontinued in FY2026. In our meetings with Rep. McCollum, Rep. Omar, Rep. Craig, and Sen. Smith, support for this funding was expressed. We asked for assurance that each of these members of Congress would ensure this funding is allocated in the upcoming budget.
4. Support for the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (S.455 & HR.1061). As of January 20th, 2025, this act was rescinded. This means that locations that were previously considered safe from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), such as schools, churches, and other places of worship, hospitals, parks, food shelves, libraries, and more, are no longer protected. We shared stories of how the revocation of this act has instilled great fear in our students, causing a pattern of chronic absences at our schools. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Senator Tina Smith’s offices were particularly moved by these examples and vowed their support for this act. 

As we move forward, we would like to express our profound gratitude for this opportunity, provided by MinneTESOL and TESOL International (Figure 8). This summit provided a crucial space to explore the legislation that directly impacts our students. We emphasized the importance of the U.S. Department of Education, Title I, II, and II funding under the ESEA, and the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act. Our meetings with congressional staffers and fellow advocates provided the foundation for long-lasting relationships with our congressional offices, ensuring continued advocacy for our English learners. We urge our fellow educators and advocates to join this important task of speaking up on behalf of

our students, going beyond the classroom to advocate for change within our education system and political system.