Secretary King Calls on State and Local School Administrators to Use ESSA to Maximize Diversity
July 1, 2016
Education Secretary John King delivered the keynote remarks at the 2016 Annual PTA Convention and Expo in Orlando, Florida. The Dept. of Education live streamed the event on their Facebook page. During his speech, Secretary King called on state and local school administrators to utilize ESSA to maximize diversity of both students and their educators. He asked attendees to “demand diversity, not just in schools, but also in the classrooms within those schools.” This coincides with similar remarks he has made to the Century Foundation and a group of Boston teachers. The Atlantic’s preview of King’s remarks noted that the Secretary believes ESSA “offers schools an opportunity to promote diversity not only in schools, but in individual classes.” He says the new law’s flexibility regarding how states decide how to improve the performance of student subgroups will be “intentional about creating diverse classroom experiences for students” and “more deliberate about presenting students with a diverse range of material.”