Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman vows to fight Trump admin's English-only Head Start rule

Los Angeles City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman publicly attacked the Trump administration’s plan to mandate English-only instruction in all Head Start preschools, warning it would hurt the city’s many multilingual learners. In a series of X posts, Raman said she would mobilize the mayor’s office and, if necessary, join forces with the school district to file a lawsuit protecting families’ rights. Heritage Foundation research fellow Corey ​C ​de ​Angelis countered that Head Start fails to deliver lasting academic gains and should be phased out, arguing the rule would better prepare children for English-language classrooms.

The Department of Health and Human Services says the change aligns with an executive order naming English the nation’s official language and would exempt Tribal programs using native languages. Federal estimates suggest about one-third of non-tribal Head Start sites could be impacted, while California receives nearly $1.5 billion annually for the program and serves tens of thousands of dual-language learners.