“This is an early Christmas present”. But not when both parties are wrong. The bill has been praised by, among others, the president of the National Education Association, the national teachers’ union, which recently endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.
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Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, committee chairman, said the act demonstrates “broad bipartisan agreement on restoring equitable treatment of private schools and ensuring that all children are afforded the education services, benefits, and opportunities they deserve, regardless of the type of school they attend”.
About three years and three months ago in Education Matters, I suggested we develop a new national education policy to replace No Child Left Behind.
Even the slogan “Leave No Child Behind” came from the Children’s Defense Fund, but when Marian Wright Edelman came up with that slogan, it didn’t mean test the kids as frequently as possible.
No Child Left Behind has been up for reauthorization since 2007. NCLB, Race to the Top and the myriad state laws that followed were developed by attorneys, legislators and legislative staffers who’d never set foot in a classroom except when they were students themselves.
The previous law was often criticized for its emphasis on testing.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights reacted to ESSA with a call to action: “This law requires and expects that all communities and families being served by schools are at the table as plans are devised and executed to improve educational outcomes for students”.
“That particular test score is such a tiny, tiny little snapshot of what happens on that one day that it really doesn’t do justice to what goes on the other 180 days”, said Seth Cohen, an earth science teacher in Troy, New York.
Jason Peplinski, superintendent of Simi Valley Unified School District, said the basic tenets of the new law are commendable.
Rivera says he’s “extremely pleased” with its replacement, known as the Every Student Succeeds Act. And it will be as important as ever for those who have shared their stories and helped me push this new law over the finish line – parents, teachers, small-business owners and community leaders – to stay active and help make sure this law is working well for our state.
The original Elementary and Secondary Education Act was put into effect by President Johnson.
And critics of the teacher preparation provisions said overall, the law’s passage was good for American schools.
Republicans, too, love it because it restores control to local school districts-yes, the same districts that were unable to provide a high-quality educational experience for their students before, during and after NCLB.
This omission is clear in the law’s wording of “no Title I portability”.
Obama once could claim to have one of the boldest education agendas of any president in recent history.
Although substantially reducing the federal government’s role in education decisions, it still mandates some standardized tests in key grade levels. The federal government is expected to release in the next few weeks new figures about how much annual funding states should anticipate.
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The bottom line is that after 12 years of public education, students should have a good grasp of basic academic subjects and be ready for their next move in life, whether it’s college, a job or the military.
