AZTESOL Statement on Statement on the “English Only” Executive Order
Arizona Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Statement on the Executive Order Designating English as the Official Language of the United States
Arizona Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (AZTESOL) opposes the U.S. Presidential Executive Order (EO) issued on March 1, 2025, which designates English as the official language of the United States of America. This EO rescinds the August 11, 2000, EO Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency.
AZTESOL’s mission is “to serve as a leading organization in Arizona for English language professionals at all levels to network, advocate, and develop professionally.” As such, the education and wellbeing of multilingual learners of English at all levels and ages are vitally important to our work as an organization. We strive to offer high quality, research-based resources and information to English language educators who work–and learn–from multilingual learners of English.
And, while Arizona does legally identify English as the official language of the state, AZTESOL recognizes that many languages, many of which continue to be spoken in Arizona, existed long before English was brought to the state, and that they and the people who speak them, regardless of their documentation status,have the right to exist. Among these are the many Indigenous languages, Spanish, and multiple languages spoken among immigrants. AZTESOL stands in solidarity with the speakers of these languages, especially cognizant of the potential harm that may result from this EO to the Indigenous peoples and languages spoken in Arizona and the nation.
Research tells us that valuing students’ home languages as well as their new English language is extremely important, not only for them to learn English effectively and efficiently, but, equally important, to ensure that their emotional and psychological wellbeing are maintained and continue to develop. And, as a state that has long experimented with English-only education (e.g., Proposition 203), research tells us that English-only education is a poor substitute for high quality bilingual education that values the whole child. This is true in terms of their academic achievement and graduation rates, but also in terms of their individual wellbeing and connection to family, friends, and neighbors. Research, as well as the experiences of states that have large populations of multilingual learners of English and which support bilingual education, also reveals the economic and other advantages that multilingualism brings to those states and the rest of the nation. Moreover, and no less important, AZTESOL asserts that all people have an inherent right to their home language(s), literacies, and culture(s).
AZTESOL recognizes that the March 1, 2025, EO–the first of its kind in our nation’s history–is more than political fodder for people who already hold the beliefs expressed in it about the place of English in the United States. The beliefs this EO reinforces have been and continue to be harmful to large numbers of people who live in our state and our nation, and who already contribute significantly to the economies, traditions, and civic needs of the communities in which they live. The recent EO has the potential only to remove their economic contributions, create obstacles to their participation in civic life, to break down the coherence of neighborhoods and communities, and, especially in a state such as Arizona, to remove their voices and ongoing contributions to the culture of Arizona’s communities and the state as a whole.
AZTESOL also stands in solidarity with other organizations that support language rights for all people and the important work of English language educators, including the following organizations. You can find their position statements at the links included below.
Center For Applied Linguistics
National Association for Bilingual Education
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages International Association
You can find more information about the March 1, 2025 Executive Order at the following link:
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/01/nx-s1-5313883/trump-english-official-language-executive-order