LA Mayoral Candidate Nithya Raman Slams Trump Administration's Proposed English-Only Head Start Rule

Los Angeles City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman has sharply criticized the Trump administration's proposed federal rule that would mandate English-only instruction in Head Start programs nationwide.

Raman stated that the proposed change would move Head Start away from multilingual instruction, a move she argues would disproportionately affect communities such as Los Angeles, where many children speak languages other than English at home. California Head Start programs currently serve tens of thousands of dual-language learners.

"As mayor, I will fight back against Trump’s plan to gut a program that gives every LA child a strong start," Raman said in an X thread, according to Fox News. "I'll bring the full weight of the mayor's office to fight this cruel mandate and work with our school district to call for a joint lawsuit if needed to protect our families' rights."

The proposed overhaul, announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August, would require programs to "conduct all education to children in English." Children whose native language is not English and who do not speak English would be prioritized for English instruction. American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start programs utilizing Tribal languages would be exempt.

Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, countered Raman's criticism, suggesting the debate highlighted broader issues with the federal program. "Head Start should be sunset," DeAngelis stated. "The gold-standard federal evaluation found it does not improve student outcomes in any lasting way, and it costs taxpayers a ton of money."

DeAngelis also argued that the administration's proposal would better prepare Head Start children for English-language classrooms. "English is the language of American schools. If the program won’t teach it, American families with English-speaking kids pay the price when those classrooms get dumbed down," he said.

An HHS spokesperson told The Los Angeles Times that the change is intended to prepare children for school and align Head Start with a previous executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. "Head Start is designed to prepare young children to be ready to enter school, and providing a firm foundation in the English language is a critical part of that preparation," the spokesperson said.

This proposed rule represents a shift from existing Head Start regulations, which encourage support for both English acquisition and children's home languages. Federal officials estimate that about one-third of non-Tribal Head Start classrooms could be impacted by the language policy change.

In fiscal year 2024, California received nearly $1.5 billion in annual operational funding for Head Start Preschool and Early Head Start. The state provided 68,126 federally funded enrollment slots. Nationally, data for the 2024-25 program year indicates that over 283,000 participants lived in households where a language other than English was primarily spoken or were learning an additional language.

Roxanne Hoge, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Republican Party, criticized Raman's opposition, asserting the government's interest in ensuring proficiency in English for children receiving taxpayer-funded services. "English is the way Americans communicate with each other, and the government has an interest in everyone becoming proficient in our country's language," Hoge said. "Parents can and do have a variety of school options for their children to learn the plethora of languages we speak in LA — from Armenian to Hebrew to Spanish and beyond. Stop demanding and start adapting. I am a mother of four and also an immigrant, since she thinks that's relevant."