English Learner (EL) Student Rights in Illinois

The legal framework

Federal law

• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act — prohibits national origin discrimination; courts interpret this to require language support for EL students
• Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) — requires schools to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers
• Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) — requires English proficiency assessment and academic standards for ELs
• Lau v. Nichols (Supreme Court, 1974) — established that EL students must receive language instruction

Illinois law

• Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) Act (105 ILCS 5/14C) — requires bilingual programs in qualifying schools
• Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) rules — implementation details

Identification of EL students

Schools must:

1. Give a Home Language Survey to families at enrollment
2. Screen any student with a home language other than English using an English proficiency assessment
3. Identify the student as EL if they score below proficiency thresholds
4. Place the student in an appropriate language-instruction program

Parents have the right to:

• Receive all communication about EL identification and placement in their home language
• Know the program the student will attend
• Know the specific services
• Decline the EL program (but not decline assessment)

Illinois TBE Act — 20 student threshold

The Illinois TBE Act requires a school to provide a Transitional Bilingual Education program — taught in the student's home language and English — when 20 or more students share the same home language group at the school.

For fewer than 20 students per language group, schools must provide a Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI) — typically ESL/ENL instruction with bilingual support as available.

What EL services should look like

A compliant EL program includes:

• Language instruction (ESL/ENL) by a properly endorsed teacher
• Access to the full academic curriculum — math, science, social studies, etc. (not just English)
• Age-appropriate and grade-appropriate materials
• Regular assessment of English proficiency progress
• Integration with non-EL peers (not segregation)
• Services until proficient in English (typically 4-7 years)
• Monitoring after exit from the program (2+ years)

Parent communication rights

Schools must communicate with non-English-speaking parents in their home language on:

• Enrollment and registration
• School policies and handbooks
• Notices about their child's education
• Discipline notices
• Special education notices and meetings (including IEP)
• Parent-teacher conferences
• Emergency notifications

This includes translation and interpretation at school meetings. Schools cannot rely on students, siblings, or other children to interpret for parents. Children should never be put in the position of interpreting for their own IEP meeting, discipline hearing, or other important decisions.

EL students with disabilities

An EL student can also be a student with a disability. Schools sometimes confuse EL needs with disability — and vice versa. The correct process:

• Evaluate in both languages when determining if a disability exists (vs. EL progress)
• Provide both EL services AND special education services as needed
• IEP meetings must include interpretation for non-English-speaking parents
• Conduct assessments in the student's native language when appropriate

Over-identification of EL students for special education is a documented civil rights issue. So is under-identification (where a student's disability is misattributed to EL status, denying needed services).

Discrimination concerns

Language access denial

Refusing to communicate with parents in their language, failing to provide interpretation at meetings, using students as interpreters for parents — all potentially discriminatory.

Segregation

EL students cannot be segregated from non-EL peers without educational justification. All-EL classes for core content not required by the program design can be problematic.

Fee-based EL services

Schools cannot charge families for EL services. These are core educational services.

Denied activities

EL students cannot be denied access to gifted programs, advanced courses, or extracurricular activities based solely on EL status.

Retaliation

Parents cannot be retaliated against for advocating for their EL student's rights — including by immigration concerns. Schools are largely barred from sharing student/family information with immigration authorities under state and local policies.

Parental involvement

Parents of EL students have rights to participate in their child's education on the same terms as any parent, with the necessary language support. This includes:

• Attending IEP/504/parent conferences with an interpreter
• Reviewing the student's educational records (with translation as needed)
• Serving on parent advisory committees (many districts have Bilingual Parent Advisory Councils — BPACs)
• Complaining about rights violations in a language they understand

What to do if EL rights are violated

1. Put your concerns in writing in your preferred language, and request a response in that language
2. Meet with the school principal and the EL program coordinator
3. Escalate to the district's Director of Bilingual Education
4. File a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Education — Bilingual Education Division
5. File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at ed.gov/ocr — 180-day deadline

Free help

• Legal Council for Health Justice — Education — language-inclusive advocacy
• Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights — Educational Equity
• Equip for Equality — Education — 312-341-0022
• Illinois Resource Center (IRC) — EL parent resources
• POWER-PAC IL — parent organizing on educational equity
• Illinois State Board of Education — Bilingual Education