The Trump administration has proposed requiring the federal Head Start early education programme to conduct all classes exclusively in English, a change that would eliminate the current multilingual instruction approach. Nithya Raman, the frontrunner in Los Angeles's mayoral election, has denounced the proposal as "cruel", arguing it represents a targeted campaign against immigrant families rather than an educational improvement. She has pledged to use the mayor's office to fight the mandate and pursue legal action if elected.

The proposed change would affect approximately 290,000 dual-language learners across the country and eliminate current requirements for teachers to use students' home languages, multilingual developmental assessments, and multilingual parent materials. Whilst the Trump administration contends that English-only instruction would better prepare children for school, Raman cited research and Proposition 227—a 1998 California law that abolished most bilingual K-12 programmes before repeal in 2016—to argue that bilingual education actually produces higher English proficiency outcomes. Los Angeles, which serves over 400,000 students speaking more than 150 languages, would be particularly affected by the change.