Trump says making English the national language promotes ‘unity’ and ‘a more cohesive and efficient society.’ So why not ensure that children learn to speak English when their brains are still sponges?
— from “The Trump administration’s funny way of promoting English”, by the Editorial Board of The Washington Post, August 22, 2025
I suspect the Editorial Board of The Washington Post is watching the news even closer than I am, and probably also has stronger opinions about certain political situations than I do. It seems to be an affliction of people involved in journalism, to develop opinions about the news they’re covering.
The news, in this case, involves children learning to speak English.
President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14224 on March 1, 2025 declaring English “the official language of the United States.” It also repeals Executive Order 13166, ending the requirement for federal agency heads to make foreign language accommodations.
The agencies are not exactly prohibited from using languages other than English, but they probably want to be really careful about doing so, if they want to keep their jobs. People in the federal government have already been fired for lesser offenses than promoting the wrong language.
I would guess that swearing in a foreign language is especially frowned upon.
There’s still no actual law designating English as the official language of the United States — the President is not authorized to create laws — but obviously there are strong hints.
One of the agencies that had been concerned about foreign languages, in times past, was the Department of Education. That department was tasked during the George W. Bush administration with improving the educational outcomes of — especially — the lowest performing students. Many of those lowest performing students spoke languages other than English, and had been receiving some instruction, in math, social studies, science, etc, in their primary language.
Obviously, this is the wrong approach. But schools that receive federal funding are required under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and under the 1974 Equal Educational Opportunities Act to serve students who are not proficient in English. Even the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that schools must take steps to address language barriers so that all children can have access to a “meaningful education.”
It’s not often the Supreme Court is wrong, but it happens now and then.
In March, the U.S. Education Department laid off almost every employee in the Office of English Language Acquisition. The President’s budget proposal eliminated funding for English-language acquisition, which would amount to $890 million in cuts for schools.
Clearly, we are hoping that children who are not proficient in English will just sit down and keep their mouths shut.
My main complaint with the Washington Post Editorial Board’s op-ed article, “The Trump administration’s funny way of promoting English”, was this comment:
So why not ensure that children learn to speak English when their brains are still sponges?
Children’s brains are not sponges. Yes, brains look like sponges, and they’re soft and squishy like sponges, but no sensible person would use a brain to clean up a spill in the kitchen.
I also dislike the Editorial Board’s suggestion that the Trump administration approach is “funny”. Making America great again is serious business, and it will help enormously if the people who struggle to speak standard English will kindly remain quiet, and just do their jobs without making a fuss.
To speak quite frankly, nothing in the Washington Post op-ed struck me as even mildly funny. And I think I know a thing or two about what’s funny and what’s not, considering I’ve been writing humor columns for about 20 years.
Okay, I take that back. The reference to brains as “sponges” was mildly funny.
I can actually believe that certain people have sponges for brains.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.