Wk 1 Legislative effects on ESL

4 Congressional Digest n www.CongressionalDigest.com n September 2017

T he Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015. This

bipartisan measure reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elemen- tary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Nation’s national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students.

The new law builds on key areas of progress in re- cent years, made possible by the efforts of educators, communities, parents, and students across the country. For example, today, high school graduation rates are at all-time highs. Dropout rates are at historic lows. And more students are going to college than ever before.

These achievements provide a firm foundation for further work to expand educational opportunity and im- prove student outcomes under ESSA.

The previous version of the law, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, was enacted in 2002. NCLB repre- sented a significant step forward for our Nation’s children in many respects, particularly as it shined a light on where students were making progress and where they needed additional support, regardless of race, income, zip code, disability, home language, or background.

The law was scheduled for revision in 2007, and, over time, NCLB’s prescriptive requirements became increas- ingly unworkable for schools and educators. Recognizing this fact, in 2010, the Obama Administration joined a call from educators and families to create a better law that focused on the clear goal of fully preparing all students for success in college and careers.

n ESSA Highlights

ESSA includes provisions that will help to ensure success for students and schools. Below are just a few. The law:

● Advances equity by upholding critical protec- tions for America’s disadvantaged and high-need students.

● Requires — for the first time — that all students in America be taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to succeed in college and careers.

● Ensures that vital information is provided to educa- tors, families, students, and communities through annual Statewide assessments that measure stu- dents’ progress toward those high standards.

● Helps to support and grow local innovations — including evidence-based and place-based interventions developed by local leaders and educators — consistent with our Investing in Innovation and Promise Neighborhoods.

● Sustains and expands this administration’s historic investments in increasing access to high-quality preschool.

● Maintains an expectation that there will be ac- countability and action to effect positive change in our lowest-performing schools, where groups of students are not making progress, and where graduation rates are low over extended periods of time.

n History of ESEA

ESEA was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyn- don Baines Johnson, who believed that “full educa-

From the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) web- site, a March 13, 2017, press release titled U.S. Sec- retary of Educaction Betsy DeVos Announces Release of Updated ESSA Consolidated State Plan Template, and ESSA Consolidated State Plan Frequently Asked Questions, prepared by the U.S. Department of Edu- cation. See https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn, https://

www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-secretary-educa-

tion-betsy-devos-announces-release-updated-essa-con-

solidated-state-plan-template, and http://www2.ed.gov/

documents/press-releases/essa-consolidated-state-tem-

plate-faqs.doc.

Every Student Succeeds Act Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Policy

5Congressional Digest n www.CongressionalDigest.com n September 2017

tional opportunity” should be “our first national goal.” From its inception, ESEA was a civil rights law.

ESEA offered new grants to districts serving low- income students, Federal grants for textbooks and li- brary books, funding for special education centers, and scholarships for low-income college students. Addi- tionally, the law provided Federal grants to State edu- cational agencies to improve the quality of elementary and secondary education.

n No Child Left Behind Act and Accountability

NCLB put in place measures that exposed achievement gaps among traditionally underserved students and their peers and spurred an important national dialogue on ed- ucation improvement. This focus on accountability has been critical in ensuring a quality education for all chil- dren, yet also revealed challenges in the effective imple- mentation of this goal.

Parents, educators, and elected officials across the country recognized that a strong, updated law was nec- essary to expand opportunity to all students; to support schools, teachers, and principals; and to strengthen our education system and economy.

In 2012, the Obama Administration began granting flexibility to States regarding specific requirements of NCLB in exchange for rigorous and comprehensive State- developed plans designed to close achievement gaps, increase equity, improve the quality of instruction, and increase outcomes for all students.

n Trump Administration Updated Template

In a letter delivered on March 13, 2017, to chief State school officers, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos provided clarity on ESSA implementation and released the updated template for the consolidated State plans.

Secretary DeVos issued the following statement:

The updated State template will ensure States are able to better serve students with the free- dom and flexibility they deserve, and which Congress requires. My philosophy is simple: I trust parents, I trust teachers, and I trust local school leaders to do what’s right for the chil- dren they serve. ESSA was passed with broad bipartisan support to move power away from Washington, D.C., and into the hands of those

who are closest to serving our Nation’s students. States, along with local educators and par-

ents, are on the frontlines of ensuring every child has access to a quality education. The plans each State develops under the streamlined ESSA tem- plate will promote innovation, flexibility, and ac- countability to ensure every child has a chance to learn and succeed.

The updated template ensures greater flexibility for State and local education leaders to do what they know is best for children, while also maintaining important protections for economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and English learners.

Crucially, ESSA maintains the transparency and accountability provisions for all students and student subgroups established in ESEA. The law requires States to help ensure that all students have access to excellent teachers and positive, safe learning environments with necessary supports to prepare them for success in college, a career, and life. The streamlined template retains these important components.

Releasing a streamlined, consolidated State plan template at this time ensures continued accountability for results and provides States a clear path forward on a timeline that works best for them. The U.S. Department of Education will continue to engage with chief State school officers and governors as State plans proceed through the peer review and secretarial review process.

The following are frequently asked quaestions con- cerning the consolidated State template.

Why is the new, streamlined template good for students?

Students have never been well-served by rules, regula- tions, and red tape that are not absolutely necessary and that hinder their teachers, local school districts, and State leaders.

What is the purpose of the streamlined State template?

ESSA was passed by wide margins in Congress (Senate 85 to 12, House 359 to 64) in order to ensure greater State and local flexibility. The changes were supported by business groups, teachers’ unions, civil rights groups, and supporters of school choice. When the prior Administration began rolling back some of that flexibility, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives again stood for the rights of local educa- tors. The senators warned that the proposed accountability regulations “would take away flexibility that Congress

6 Congressional Digest n www.CongressionalDigest.com n September 2017

clearly gave States” and “violat[e] explicit prohibitions written into the statute.” The Administration trusts parents, teachers, and local and State leaders. Therefore, the template only asks States to provide detail on their plans in areas (a) explicitly required by law, and (b) deemed absolutely necessary. This template helps restore power to States, local educators, and parents, where it belongs. Laws like ESSA are vital for protecting educationally disadvantaged groups of students. Students also depend on their States and local educators having the flexibility needed to better serve children. That is why the streamlined template asks States to report only on the aspects of their plans that are ab-

solutely necessary to ensure they comply with the law and provide every child with the quality education he or she deserves. In other words, as compared with the prior template, States have no more latitude when it comes to how they hold schools accountable in the interest of students.

How specifically does the revised template ensure great- er flexbility for States?

Some of the ways the streamlined, revised template pro- vides additional flexibility for States:

● Cuts prescriptive mandates on the structure of school accountability systems, many of which were removed by wide, bipartisan margins in Congress, but then reinstated through regulation by the prior Administration.

● Provides States much greater flexibility to use funds to help local schools improve without having to get permission from Washington.

● Creates a significant reduction in regulations regarding reporting on teacher equity. In particular, the Federal Government will have far less to say about how States report in the State plan on educator equity. The law, however, still requires States to evaluate the extent to which low-income and minority students have access to effective teachers. States must also work with local schools to prevent bullying and harassment.

How will these changes ensure protections for low-in-

come, minority, and disabled students?

The secretary believes one thing should be made ab- solutely clear: Civil rights protections, including those

within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, ESSA, and other relevant Federal and State laws, remain in place, even if they are not specifically named in the template.

States will provide written assurances on many of these provisions, but State and local leaders must follow all applicable laws and provide every student with the services and support he or she deserves. An added benefit of additional flexibility is that States can focus less on paperwork and compliance and more on actually delivering programs that provide genuine results for the students these laws were designed to support.

What voice have outside stakeholders had in revising the template?

In developing this new template, the Department of Ed- ucation (ED) has consulted State educational agencies; governors; organizations representing parents, teachers, and school and district leaders; and advocates for chil- dren, including those with disabilities and other students from educationally disadvantaged groups. Even in the very short timeline necessary to provide new information to States, ED invited numerous stakeholders to share their feedback, much of which was incorporated into the final template and other documents. The secretary believes States and local educators and parents deserve more than the ability to speak up, they must be empowerd to make meaningful, lasting change. The streamlined template is designed to move power away from Washington, D.C., and emplower States to better serve their respective students. n

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