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- Published: Tuesday, 29 December 2015 17:10
Last November, the House of Representatives took up the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Senate is scheduled to follow suit as soon the House is finished. The reauthorized law, called the Every Student Succeeds Act:
- eliminates the adequate yearly progress requirement;
- maintains certification for paraprofessionals;
- revamps accountability to include other measures of student learning and school indicators, and allows for a pilot program for project based-assessments in lieu of standardized tests;
- authorizes funds to be used for class-size reduction, after-school programs and community schools;
- maintains the current targeted Title I funding formula;
- protects programs for English language learners;
- maintains and expands collective bargaining protections;
- expands accountability and transparency provisions for charter schools;
- requires states to look at resources and equity in their school improvement plans; and
- strengthens provisions requiring collaboration with teachers and paraprofessionals on school improvement and professional development programs.
This law will give us a fresh start—and will be a wake-up call to any state that wants to double down on what will now be the discarded test-and-punish system that has so dominated in recent years.
I am proud of our union, from our members and activists to our leaders. We have worked hard to make sure our message—as parents, as educators, as community members and as people who want to make a difference in the lives of children—was heard. We testified before Congress. We had more than 200 in-person meetings with members of Congress (including D.C. lobby days and in-district visits) and visited with almost every congressional delegation. More than 125,000 members contacted their elected representatives and senators via phone, and more than 20,000 responded at a moment’s notice to contact Congress. More than 100,000 actions have been taken online, including nearly 20,000 comments submitted to Congress.
Personally, I have met one-on-one with President Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Secretary-designate John King, Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander and ranking member Patty Murray, House education committee ranking member Bobby Scott, and many other congressional members, and I have maintained close communications with senior White House officials.
The bill is not perfect, and with so much authority being turned over to the states, we will have our work cut out for us. But ESSA brings us closer to letting states, local districts and educators focus on students and their success, and to ending the harmful test fixation that has become the predominant schooling strategy. It sends a clear signal to states that the policies of No Child Left Behind, waivers and Race to the Top should be abandoned, not replicated. By maintaining funding for the students who need it most; not including support for private school vouchers, portability or other divisive policies; and including more transparency and accountability for charters, the bill also signals to states that these are unproven policies that should NOT be pursued.
The upcoming votes on ESSA will mark a sea change in education policy in this country. But first, we need to make a last push to the finish line. We will next turn our attention to ESSA implementation at the state and local levels. We will be sending out an e-action this week asking AFT members to contact their senators and representatives to urge them to support the bill. More information will follow as we work on implementation, but in the meantime, we have attached the following:
- A copy of the letter I plan to send to all members of Congress
- A brief summary—“cheat sheet”—of what the new law will mean in your state
Obviously, ESSA and the reauthorization of ESEA will be a focus at upcoming program and policy council and executive council meetings. We will alert you as soon as the votes occur. To read the final bill, click A message from Randi Weingarten, AFT President:.
Thank you so much for everything you have done and will do in the next few days.
In solidarity,
Randi