Anthony Hernandez, teacher leader for Educators 4 Excellence, discussed the current “supplement, not supplant” debate in an op-ed in The Hill. He argues that the provisions “have the potential to be deeply transformative for traditionally underserved students”, but ESSA’s requirement that districts explain how funds...
The Alabama ESSA Implementation Committee – in partnership with the state Dept. of Education – held the first round of subcommittee meetings this past week. Subcommittee meetings were held on Educator Effectiveness, Schools and District Improvement, Early Learning, Title Programs, Data Collection and Reporting, Accountability,...
The International Literacy Association (ILA) announced that its 2016 Conference & Exhibits in Boston will include a special session on engaging with “the key stakeholders of ESSA.” Participants will learn about the new “flexible funding platform” and how Title I officials, district administrators and literacy...
The Dept. of Education sent a draft rule for “supplement, not supplant,” a key Title I spending provision, to the Office of Management and Budget. According to POLITICO Pro, “The provision aims to ensure that federal Title I dollars for poor students are truly supplemental...
To ensure funding for poor and underserved schools, the Congressional Asian Pacific, Black, and Hispanic Caucuses sent a letter to Secretary John King demanding that the Dept. Of Education “use its regulatory authority to guide and enforce the use of federal funds by local education...
Sec. John King was featured in an interview with Education Week to discuss various aspects of the current implementation of ESSA. Key takeaways from the interview included: • Heavy emphasis will be placed on equality programs designed to benefit underperforming schools, like Title I funding...
A Washington Examiner story explores the ongoing dispute between Sec. King and Chairman Alexander. According to the account, the Republicans believe “the [Dept. of Education] is trying to reassert federal control by exceeding its authority with a rule that would require state and local spending...
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held an ESSA stakeholder hearing to discuss implementation of the law. Committee Chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) questioned Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers and Dr. Nora Gordon from the McCourt School of...
Over 30 civil rights groups – all members of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights – released a letter urging the Dept. of Education to include robust parameters for Title I funding towards underfunded and struggling schools in its ESSA guidelines. Read more...
The American Enterprise Institute claimed the comparability provision in ESSA obstructs the goals of “supplement, not supplant” by allowing districts to meet equality requirements using average salaries, not actual teacher salaries. AEI argued this causes large salary deficits between Title I schools and non-Title I...
