# Plain Language Summary of H.R. 2024

This bill would completely eliminate federal funding for English Language Assistance programs in the Department of Education for the year 2024. In practical terms, it would cut off all money—reducing the budget to zero dollars—that currently helps schools teach English to students who don't speak it as their first language.

Right now, schools across the country use federal grants to run English as a Second Language (ESL) programs and other language assistance initiatives. These programs help immigrant students, refugee children, and other non-native English speakers learn the language they need to succeed in regular classrooms. If this bill passed, that federal money would simply disappear. Schools would have to either find other funding sources to keep these programs running, cut them entirely, or absorb the costs from their regular budgets—which would likely mean taking money away from other educational priorities like math, science, or special education.

The impact would fall hardest on schools in communities with large immigrant populations and districts that already struggle with tight budgets. Students who are still learning English would lose specialized instruction designed to help them catch up to their peers. Some schools might be able to maintain basic services, but many would likely see significant reductions in the support available to these students. This is a straightforward budget cut with no exceptions or phase-in period—it's an all-or-nothing elimination of this particular funding stream for one fiscal year.

To provide for a limitation on availability of funds for Department of Education, English Language Assistance for fiscal year 2024.

Biggs, Andy

 <p>This bill specifies that no FY2024 funding is authorized to be appropriated or made available for the Department of Education's English Language Acquisition program.</p>