On Friday, newly christened U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos sent a, how shall I call it, awkward letter to all the education leaders of each state. Alarm bells went up immediately. Many people are scratching their heads about the missive dealing with state Every Student Succeeds Act implementation plans. The word “may” in relation to Title I, II, III, IV and V funding is the part that is confusing many. Is this Betsy’s way of phasing from Title funding to her school voucher plan? And how many enemies of modern-day accountability standards are equally confused about Betsy gutting the John King regulations from last fall? This could be a Trojan Horse leading to more Competency-Based Education. We all know CBE is a darling of the ed reformers these days. Read the below letter and sit and wonder like the rest of us! I have no doubt President Trump is clueless about any of this and is applying his next daily helping of orange glow.
John King
Final U.S. DOE Regulations For ESSA Accountability Leave Same Bad Test, Shame, & Punish Policies & No Changes On Opt Out
ESSA Accountability Final RegulationsThe United States Department of Education released the final regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act accountability section of the law. Once again, despite protest by the Republican led Education & The Workforce Committee, the U.S. DOE is leaving many things that ESSA was supposed to get rid of. We still have the damn standardized tests as the measurement of what makes a school failing. We still have the blame game for teachers in the “lowest” 5% of Title I schools. We still have the Feds indicating that state accountability systems must factor participation rate below 95% as part of their scoring matrix. Nothing has changed. Of course, the states can submit their own state standards to the U.S. DOE, but let’s get real- most states already have their standards (Common Core) in place. Common Core and tests like PARCC and the Smarter Balanced Assessment are NOT going anywhere. I don’t care what Donald Trump or Betsy DeVos say.
One thing the U.S. DOE did change was the due dates state ESSA plans. Now they are April 3rd and September 18th. Previously, they had been March 31st or July 31st. The Delaware DOE (with no stakeholder input) chose the March 31st deadline (but said they would submit it on March 6th).
So can we expect more “priority” schools coming out of ESSA?
In schools identified for comprehensive or additional targeted support and improvement, the final regulations require that their improvement plans review resource inequities related to per-pupil expenditures and access to ineffective, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers; advanced coursework; in elementary schools, full-day kindergarten and preschool programs; and specialized instructional support personnel such as school counselors and social workers—drawing on data already collected and reported under ESSA.
And what about opt-out? Did the U.S. DOE offer any mercy to schools where parents make a constitutional, fundamental, and God-given right to opt their child out of the state assessment? Yeah right!
To provide a fair and accurate picture of school success, and help parents, teachers, school leaders, and state officials understand where students are struggling and how best to support them, the law requires that all students take statewide assessments and that states factor into their accountability systems participation rates below 95 percent for all students or subgroups of students, such as English learners or students with disabilities. The regulations do not prescribe how states do this; rather they suggest possibilities for how states might take into account low participation rates and allow states to propose their own actions that can be differentiated based on the extent of the issue, but are sufficiently rigorous to improve schools’ participation rates in the future. Schools missing 95 percent participation must also develop plans to improve based on their local contexts and stakeholder input.
This is just more of the same but wrapped in a different package. And of course, the National PTA, NEA, AFT and other organizations that should have known better jumped all over this law a year ago. You reap what you sow!
Delaware DOE Continues To Ignore The Voices Of Their Stakeholders
Delaware DOEThe Delaware Dept. of Education has a very bad habit. They ignore what the people are telling them. This is the case with the 2016-2017 Delaware School Success Framework. Once again, they are incorporating the Smarter Balanced Assessment participation rate as a penalty in the framework. Even though a majority of their stakeholders in the Measures of School Success ESSA Discussion Group said they don’t want this anymore. The final regulations from the U.S. Dept. of Education concerning participation rate have not come out yet but ESSA dictates that it is the decision of the states and local education agencies to determine how they handle opt out. US DOE Secretary of Education John King received a great deal of flack from parents, educators, and citizens with his harsh regulations surrounding accountability. This also drew the attention of members of Congress who felt King was abusing the authority given to him with ESSA. The state does NOT have to have a penalty for participation rate. But the DOE continues to treat ESSA as a penalty-providing opportunity.
The above picture was taken by one of the members of the Measures of School Success ESSA Discussion Group. The discussion groups come up with ideas and thoughts on how to improve schools. For this discussion group, after they have answered all questions, they put three stickers next to their top priorities. Not having opt out as a penalty in the DSSF and having the school report what may have happened received 8 stickers. If I remember this meeting correctly, there were only about half the members in attendance. So for this to get 8 priority stickers, that is huge. But the Delaware DOE ignores this.
Last year, when the Accountability Framework Working Group convened to decide on the final version of the DSSF, they came up with the same idea which was a valid option from the US DOE. It looked like that was going to go through until Governor Markell stuck his nose into it and directed Secretary Godowsky to proceed with the opt out penalty. Even though Markell will end his reign as Governor and is moving onto bigger and better things, like performing in the Nutcracker, the DOE continues his very bad education policy.
Last night, I had an interview with Education Week. They reached out to me due to my role on the Student and School Supports ESSA Discussion Group. I won’t spoil the interview, but there was discussion around what the true role of “stakeholder input” is with Delaware’s ESSA plan. Many feel that we are just placards in the process and the Delaware DOE will do what it damn well pleases. This latest version of the DSSF just reinforces that thought.
Incoming Delaware Governor John Carney: you really need to put the brakes on the DOE Accountability Machine! The DOE needs to listen to their stakeholders more than Rodel!
Members Of U.S. Senate & Congress Tell John King To Kill Supplement Not Supplant Regulation!
Supplement Not SupplantToday, twenty-five Republicans in both the U.S. Senate and House Education committees told U.S. Secretary of Education to kill the “supplement not supplant” regulation that has drawn the ire of the majority of the teaching profession in America. In a nutshell, this regulation would completely change the way Title I funds are disbursed to schools, would cause severe damage to the teaching profession, and would grant Title I funds to schools that are not Title I schools. I wish some Democrat members of these committees would speak up!
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Press Office | ||
| November 7, 2016 | (202) 226-9440 | ||
|
|||
|
The regulatory proposal would change the longstanding requirement that prevents school districts from using federal Title I funds as a replacement for state and local funds in low-income schools. In comments submitted to Education Secretary John King, the members said the rule “draws broad and inaccurate conclusions about what Congress intended when amending the [‘supplement not supplant’] provision that are not supported by the statutory text and violate clear and unambiguous limitations on the Secretary’s authority.” The members said certain provisions of the rule are “unlawful, unnecessary and could result in harmful consequences to [local educational agencies], schools, teachers, and students.”
|
You don’t have to click on the link, you can read the entire letter below:
Education & Workforce Committee Slam Secretary John King Over Homeschool Remarks
John KingThe fun never stops in Washington D.C. After U.S. Secretary of Education John King said some rather stupid things about homeschooled students yesterday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee thought they should issue a press release on King’s comments. I have to agree with them!
| Education & the Workforce Committee | Contact: Press Office | |
| September 23, 2016 | (202) 226-9440 | |
|
||
|
The Obama administration has always had a “we-know-best” mentality when it comes to K-12 education. The Department of Education has spent years unilaterally dictating education policy through pet projects and conditional waivers. Last year, former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan boasted that the department’s lawyers are “much smarter than many of the folks” working in the United States Congress. And in recent months, the department has put forward new rules that reflect the same old top-down approach to the nation’s classrooms. Now, Secretary John King is sounding off on parents who decide to homeschool their children. According to Politico Pro: [Secretary King said] that he’s concerned that homeschooled students aren’t “getting the range of options that are good for all kids” … [King] said he worries that “students who are homeschooled are not getting kind of the rapid instructional experience they would get in school”—unless parents are “very intentional about it.” We wonder if the secretary intentionally left out some key facts about the nation’s homeschool students:
But the secretary knows best, right? Not quite. At a time when the Obama administration was busy setting national education policy, there has been little improvement in student achievement and graduation rates:
We all agree that every child deserves to have an excellent education. That’s the reason Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the Every Student Succeeds Act. The law protects homeschools from federal interference and empowers parents to do what they believe is best for their children. Why? Because that’s what is best for America’s students—whether the secretary knows it or not. |
|
# # # |
ESSA: Parents & Educators MUST Attend The Upcoming Meetings & Educate Themselves On The Law!
Every Student Succeeds ActThe Delaware Dept. of Education will have three more Every Student Succeeds Act Community Engagement meetings in the next week. They held a meeting in Georgetown on Tuesday. The next three meetings will take place in Wilmington, Middletown, and Dover. The DOE is “requiring” participants to register through a company called Event Brite. Links to register can be found here.
I will stress with all the urgency I can muster that ALL public education parents attend these meetings. Before you go, I would familiarize yourself with the federal law. You can read the full text of the law here. It is a very long law with a lot of repeated jargon and “legalese” in it. The Delaware State Board of Education and Delaware DOE has put up many links to it on their websites, but a lot of that is open to interpretation. As well, U.S. Secretary of Education John King has issued “proposed rulemaking” which are potential regulations. These regulations are VERY controversial. You can read those regulations here and here.
These are my major concerns with ESSA:
By allowing states to have more flexibility, many states have already created long-term plans based on the prior federal mandates. Far too many in our state DOEs follow what the corporate education reformers want and give a false illusion of “stakeholder input”.
The Delaware DOE has given NO indication whatsoever that they will even consider changing the state standards away from Common Core even though they can certainly do this according to ESSA. The US Secretary of Education isn’t required to approve these standards. The states merely have to give an assurance that their standards will follow the law.
Student data still isn’t protected to parents satisfaction. To stop this data from going out, they need to restore the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) to pre-2011 levels
Bouncing off the previous statement, by allowing more social service and health-based practitioners into our schools, there is a serious question regarding what applies to FERPA and what applies to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
John King’s regulations would keep the 95% participation rates for state assessments with consequences for schools and districts.
John King’s Title I regulations would enact a “supplement not supplant” these funds. This is in sharp contrast with federal law and he was called out on this the other day by the US House Education and Workforce Committee.
There is far too much talk of competency-based education through computer adaptive assessments. That is just lingo for personalized learning. This law would allow for classrooms to become online all the time. There are severe dangers with this in regards to the downgrading of the teacher profession, far too much screen time for students, and the quality of the educational material. As well as severe data privacy concerns. In fact, there are incentives for schools to adopt personalized learning.
While the law forbids the US DOE from forcing or coercing states to implement any state standards, like Common Core, many states already have these in place and spent years embedding them into every facet of public education.
The law calls for state accountability “report cards”, based on performance of the state assessment, but the tests are not required to be exactly the same for all students. So the state assessments are not a true measurement since they will be different for each test-taker. Delaware set up their report card last year under the name of the “Delaware School Success Framework” but they inserted a very punitive participation rate penalty if a school dips below the 95% participation rate which can’t use parent opt-out in those calculations according to the law.
State assessments will not be required to have questions at the appropriate grade level for students.
ESSA requires any plan to be submitted to the State DOE, State Board of Education, the Governor and the state legislature. To date, the Delaware DOE has not had “meaningful” consultation with the Delaware General Assembly about ESSA.
The law specifically states that all choice schools should have priority given to the lowest-achieving students, but Delaware allows for charter schools to have enrollment preferences that allow for higher-achieving students to have distinct advantages, especially in our magnet schools and charter schools like Charter School of Wilmington.
I have many other concerns with ESSA, but these ones stand out for me. I am coming at this from the perspective of a parent. I know educators have concerns over some of this as well.
Kline Calls John King’s Regulations A Convoluted Scheme
John King, John KlineThe Chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee just issued a press release on the regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act. He blasted U.S. Secretary of Education John King and said he needs to be stopped! We can all agree on this one Rep. Kline! But here’s the deal: these proposed regulations have been out since the end of May. It is now the last day of August. Coming out with press releases is good, but you need to have the entire Congress get together for an immediate hearing and strip King of his power.
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Press Office | ||
| August 31, 2016 | (202) 226-9440 | ||
|
|||
| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. John Kline (R-MN), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, issued the following statement today regarding the Department of Education’s unprecedented and unlawful “supplement, not supplant” regulatory proposal:The Department of Education is threatening to unilaterally impose a multi-billion dollar regulatory tax on our nation’s schools. This punitive policy will unleash havoc on schools and their students at a time when education leaders should be focused on helping children succeed in the classroom. America’s poorest neighborhoods will be hit the hardest as communities are forced to relocate teachers, raise taxes, or both. Any supposed “flexibility” is really a limited set of bad choices dictated by the secretary of education. This is not at all what Congress intended, and those who helped enact this law cannot honestly believe differently.
What the secretary is proposing is unprecedented and unlawful. The only way to make this right is to scrap this convoluted regulatory scheme immediately. Members of Congress came together to pass bipartisan reforms that are designed to help every child receive an excellent education, and we will not allow this administration to undermine these reforms with its own extreme, partisan agenda. |
| # # # |
Jack Markell, Blockchain, Coding Schools, Rodel, BRINC, Pathways To Prosperity, Registered Agents… Delaware’s Role In “The Ledger”
BlockchainIf Washington D.C. is the capital of America, than Delaware is the capital of corporate education reform.
Over the past week, many of us who are resisting the privatization of public education have been talking about The Ledger. Peter Greene broke the news for the world to see, which Diane Ravitch quickly picked up on. What is “The Ledger”?
John King Is Violating Intent Of ESSA By Approving Illegal Flexibility Waivers For Delaware Through 2019
Delaware DOE, John KingI was wondering why the Delaware Department of Education went to all the trouble of submitting an ESEA flexibility waiver for a dubious standard called the state’s “speaking and listening standards” last March. ESEA effectively ended on July 31st this year. Now we know why. Because it allowed the Delaware DOE to continue the same damaging and disturbing accountability practices for not just this school year, but through the end of the 2018-2019 school year.
This waiver was very odd to begin with. Yes, there is speaking and listening standards. It is part of Delaware’s Common Core State Standards. But to submit an ESEA Flex Waiver for this is ludicrous. But it doesn’t end there. The Delaware DOE was not forthright and honest with the process of applying for this waiver. As part of state code, Delaware is required to have an advisory committee to approve these waivers. This was the DESS Advisory Committee. For this waiver, DESS did not meet to approve it. In fact, as per an email from Susan Haberstroh at the Delaware DOE, the group is not even active at this point.
DESS is, however, required under Delaware state code to review the very same things this ESEA flexibility waiver is meant to address:
Under whose authority did Haberstroh decide DESS did not have to meet to review this flexibility waiver? This flexibility waiver is illegal in many ways. There is no state regulation that gives the Delaware School Success Framework any legal enforceability. Regulation 103, which covers these accountability standards, was not updated last year. The U.S. DOE has no authority to approve or disapprove Delaware law. By relying on the United State Dept. of Education to decide on Delaware law, the Delaware DOE is seriously overstepping the will and intent of the Delaware Constitution.
To make things more complicated, U.S. Secretary John King is abusing his authority under the Every Student Succeeds Act by approving any accountability waivers up through 2019. The Delaware DOE is cherry-picking what they can and can’t do with ESSA, just like John King is. For John King, when he does this stuff, he gets hauled into congressional hearings. When the Delaware DOE does this stuff, it gets mentioned on here. There is no accountability method for the Delaware DOE to answer for their actions. Someone needs to get the DOE into a public hearing to explain how they can do certain things and not others. Because the way they interpret the law and the way it must be interpreted are two different things. Events are progressing rapidly where the Delaware DOE is openly and flagrantly violating state law. This can not continue and I urge our General Assembly to take immediate and definitive action against our out of control Dept. of Education.
As for U.S. Secretary of Education John King, I have already taken some action on his abuse of power. I contacted Rep. John Kline (MN) and Senator Lamar Alexander (TN) addressing the abuse of power John King is exhibiting by approving this waiver. As well, I submitted the following to Senator Alexander:
Good morning Senator Alexander,
I am trying to reach you in regards to the Every Student Succeeds Act. Back in March, the Delaware Department of Education submitted a flexibility waiver under ESEA to the United States Department of Education. This was for a waiver of “speaking and listening standards” as part of our state assessment. Our Dept. of Education stated this was a “limited waiver” and bypassed parts of our state law for how these things are approved in our state. While I recognize you have no authority over Delaware state code, I do know you do have authority in regards to the U.S. Dept. of Education and have the ability to call out John King over abuse of power.
On August 5th, 2016, the Delaware DOE received an approval letter from Anne Whelan, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education, action on Secretary King’s behalf, to approve our ESEA flexibility waiver. The letter, which can be found on the Delaware Dept. of Education website under “Accountability”, and then “ESSA”, seems to give the U.S. DOE authority to grant flexibility waivers with the same accountability standards under ESEA up through June 30th, 2019. As I am interpreting the Every Student Succeeds Act, this type of authority was explicitly stripped from the U.S. Secretary of Education. But John King is openly and publicly defying this federal mandate by continuing the same damaging practices from No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top.
The letter states:
“After reviewing Delaware’s request, I am pleased to grant, pursuant to my authority under section 8401 (b) of the ESEA, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a limited waiver of section 1111 (b)(3)(C)(ii) of the ESEA, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), for school year (SY) 2016-2017 and of section 1111 (b)(2)(B)(ii) of the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA, for SYs 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 so that the state’s assessment system, including the Smarter Balanced Assessment for grades 3-8 and the SAT for high school, need not measure the State’s speaking and listening standards at this time.
This waiver is granted to Delaware on the condition that it will implement the following assurances:
It will continue to meet for each year of the waiver all other requirements in the ESEA, as amended by NCLB or the ESSA, as applicable, for State assessment systems and the implementing regulations with respect to the State’s academic content and achievement standards and assessments, including reporting student achievement and school performance, disaggregated by subgroups, to parents and the public.”
In addition, by granting this waiver to Delaware, it would allow Delaware to continue accountability rules that have no regulatory approval in Delaware as required by Delaware state code. Delaware has not passed a final Accountability Framework for our public schools because there is no regulation supporting this updated matrix. As well, the Delaware School Success Framework punishes schools for participation rates below 95% on state assessments. While ESSA allows states to decide policies and procedures with regard to a parent’s right to opt their child out of the state assessment, Delaware has not done so in any official capacity. The U.S. DOE is approving this illegal practice in our state which is against the spirit and intent of ESSA. No state regulations have been approved or are even in the pipeline for approval, and the U.S. DOE is in violation of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
I implore you, as well as your other Congressional leaders, to hold Secretary King accountable for his very open defiance against the intent of Congress.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.
With warm regards,
Kevin Ohlandt
Dover, DE
Below is the letter sent from Anne Whalen to Secretary Godowsky on August 5th:
Charter Schools & ESSA Regulations: “We Are Not The Same”
Every Student Succeeds Act, National Association for Public Charter SchoolsWe strongly oppose the inclusion of this requirement, which is not authorized by the statute. The Department bases this proposal on a desire “to provide transparency.” (No further justification is provided in the NPRM.) We, too, support greater transparency, regarding both charter and non-charter schools, but this requirement would result in the reporting of misleading data. Moreover, the proposed requirement appears to be based on the premise that charter schools should look the “same” as district public schools in close proximity, when by definition charter schools are open enrollment. Lastly, the proposed requirement that is not in the statute, and would not equally apply to all public schools – only charter schools would be included.
The National Association for Public Charter Schools gave a very long public comment for the draft regulations put forth by the United States Department of Education and Secretary John King. Even they aren’t happy with parts of these regulations. Many felt the Every Student Succeeds Act gave gifts to the charters, but apparently the charters do not like some of these regulations.
The most important question is not who is enrolled in a charter school; it is whether all students and families who may wish to enroll have the opportunity to enroll – only then is the parent’s choice a meaningful one. The comparison data that the Department is asking for would not reflect this factor because the data would confuse and conflate the decision to enroll with the opportunity to enroll. As such, comparison data may be one indicator of meaningful access but comparison data are not the correct, best or only frame with which to evaluate equity.
I find some of their statements very ironic. Especially for some charter schools in Delaware where the opportunity to enroll is buried in selective enrollment preferences and factors that lead to very low populations of at-risk students: African-Americans, students with disabilities, and English Language learners. So much so that the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights in December, 2014.
Like some charters in Delaware, this collection of America’s largest charter school organizations and franchises want to cherry-pick through the regulations to insert additional language in the Every Student Succeeds Act. This is the one that disturbs me the most:
We recommend that the Department revise proposed section 200.24(d)(2), by adding a new clause (iii) reading as follows:
“(iii) Using funds that it reserves under section 1003(a), directly provide for the creation of new, replicated, or expanded charter schools to serve students enrolled in schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement, and other students in the local community, provided that:
“(A) The SEA has the authority to take such an action under State law or, if the SEA does not have that authority, the SEA has the LEA’s approval to use the funds in this manner; and
“(B) Such charter schools will be established and operated by non-profit entities with a demonstrated record of success (particularly in serving students from communities similar to those that would be served by the new charter schools), which the State shall determine through a rigorous review process.”
This language would be consistent with other provisions of the proposed regulations that support the concept of making charter school options available to students who would otherwise be enrolled in low-performing schools. It would take a different approach than just authorizing conversions, by making it possible for students enrolled in comprehensive support and improvement schools (as well as other students in the neighborhood or local community) to have the opportunity to transfer to a charter school run by a highly successful operator. We emphasize that the language would allow an SEA to use section 1003 funds for this purpose with the approval of the affected LEA, unless state law gives the SEA the authority to take such an action without LEA approval. (It would thus be somewhat parallel to the language currently in section 200.24(d)(2) allowing the SEA, with the LEA’s concurrence to provide school improvement activities through external partners). We strongly recommend that the Department adopt this recommendation.
I have no doubt you strongly recommend the Department inserts this into the law. We have yet to see, based on equal demographics, that charter schools do better than traditional public school districts. There are many charter schools that seem to work merely as rigor universities for high achievement on state assessments, but that is not a true barometer for student success which has been proven time and time again.
To read the rest about what the charters want and ALL the organizations and charters that signed this comment, read the entire document below:
Katonah-Lewisboro School District’s Very Awesome Resolution On John King’s ESSA Draft Regulations
Katonah-Lewisboro School District…provisions in the US Department of Education (DOE) draft regulations would perpetuate federal overreach in areas that ESSA specifically delegates to the states and to local school districts.
Last night, I remembered where I came from. In 1988, I graduated from John Jay High School in the Katonah-Lewisboro School District in Cross River, New York.
While looking at public comments on the Every Student Succeeds Act draft regulations put forth by the United States Department of Education, I actually found a comment submitted by the Board of Education at my old school district. They basically told John King to shove it and to keep his nose out of state and local education matters. I agree wholeheartedly. I truly wish any of the districts in Delaware, where I now live, took similar actions with these horrible regulations. They say you can’t go home again, but you can certainly look back with pride!
What I was also shocked to see was an item on their Board Docs, which they have at every single board meeting. Something I would urge all Delaware Boards of Education, Boards of Directors, the State Board of Education, task forces, committees, or any public body that meets and allows public comment to have, this:
Public comment is a must. But seeing a board taking the time to discuss the concerns or matters brought up during public comment is something we just don’t see in Delaware. All too often, we bring something up during public comment and it isn’t referred to again. Although, being fair, Capital School District (where I live) does discuss many items brought up in public comment. Frequently, I am the only one giving public comment at board meetings and I am very open about items on their agenda and how they pertain to special education. But could you imagine how different our State Board of Education would be if they adopted this amazing philosophy? If there was actually some type of conversation between the public and themselves? Or going a leap further, what if our Senate or House Education Committees took these steps? They could understand things so much more. Bottom line is this: Delaware, as a whole, needs to speak up with a very loud voice and have more engagement with ALL stakeholders!
So much of who I am comes from the spirit of the school district I grew up in. I’ve taken this for granted over the years, but this makes me really happy to see. But one thing I do want to know: when did my high school get an Ice Hockey team? That is really awesome! I wish they had that when I grew up!
Colin Bonini Would Not Have Vetoed House Bill 50, The Delaware Opt Out Bill
Colin Bonini, Delaware Election 2016On the Rick Jensen show, Delaware State Senator Colin Bonini just told Jensen he would have signed House Bill 50, Delaware’s opt out bill that Governor Markell vetoed last year. He agrees with many people in this state that the federal government is too involved in education and decisions are best left to the state and local districts. Bonini said he doesn’t agree with getting rid of testing altogether, but the high-stakes involved are too much. He thinks there needs to be some type of measurement to compare students and how they are doing.
He mentioned he will have a Delaware State Education Association interview next week but he doesn’t expect their support since he is a Right To Work guy. Jensen joked that he could agree with everything they said but would still endorse a Democrat even if that Dem disagreed with them on different things.
Bonini said the recent bill passed by the Feds (ESSA) is a healthy thing, but I would encourage all candidates for any public office in Delaware to read up on the nasty regulations U.S. Secretary of Education John King is trying to roll out. Which basically gives the feds a lot of the accountability power the bill was meant to get rid of. This WILL be a major thing during the next four years, guaranteed! I would also urge the candidates to look into the Delaware DOE supporting those regulations and their already shameful Delaware School Success Framework which was custom-designed for this legislation and the regulations King introduced.
All four Gubernatorial candidates in Delaware need to read between the lines on some of this stuff. They will be facing whatever comes out of the Every Student Succeeds Act when it is implemented into law next year. Wrong answers could, and most likely will, come back to haunt them.
Hey Terri & Yvonne! DE PTA Needs To Get Back On The Opt Out Bus! If NY PTA Can Do This, You Should Too!
Delaware PTA, Parent Opt Out of the Smarter Balanced AssessmentAs part of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the United States Department of Education is required to issue regulations associated with the new law. Of course U.S. Secretary of Education John King saw this as his big chance to make his national mark for his corporate education reform buddies, so he stuck with the accountability script and harsh rules about opt out of high-stakes tests. The New York Parent Teacher Organization wrote a letter to King as part of their public comment for the regulations.
Something to keep in mind is the National PTA’s bizarre stance on parent opt out. They are against it and don’t want the state PTA’s advocating it either. Last February, they threatened Delaware with severe sanctions if they continue to advocate for a parent’s right to opt out. This caused a complete shutdown with Delaware PTA on the issue.
Here is the letter the NY PTA sent to King:
There are a few other things readers need to be aware of when it comes to this issue. Sanctions against the NY PTA would not be as damaging as ones against Delaware PTA. If even ten percent of NY parents belong to their PTA, that is still at least ten times the amount of members as Delaware PTA. Which means they have a lot more cash and pull with National PTA. Plus, New Yorkers are a hell of a lot fiestier than Delawareans. That doesn’t mean I would seriously mess with the Dynamic Duo of Dr. Terri Hodges and Yvonne Johnson. I wrote a few articles about this issue last winter, as well as poking a bit at Johnson’s involvement with the Christina School District. I caught holy hell for that.
But I do wish Delaware would follow New York’s lead on this. They are basically telling John King AND National PTA “We don’t care what your stance on opt out is. We are going to tell parents what their rights are.” New York leads the way with opt outs, followed by New Jersey. Yes, Delaware’s PTA could get into a heck of a lot of trouble with National PTA if they get back on their opt out positions, but who cares? This a PARENT-TEACHER organization, not Laura Bay and Friends. If the former district testing coördinator wants to hate on opt out, let her. But she should not get a whole parent organization to stop doing what they feel is best for parents. It’s kind of what they are there for Ms. Bay!
In the meantime, the next few months will be very interesting, not only in Delaware, but across the country. As these regulations go forward, I predict a lot of pushback from many states, teacher unions, parents, schools, and advocates for public education. Hopefully, the members of Congress who like to call out John King on a monthly basis will continue to do so. If they don’t, John King gets his way, and the punitive mandates of Race To The Top will still be here.
Jack Markell As The Next U.S. Secretary of Education? OVER MY DEAD BODY!!!!
Governor MarkellA fate worse than death would be Jack Markell as the United States Secretary of Education under President Hillary Clinton. What Markell has done to Delaware education in less than eight years (twelve if you count his contributions towards Rodel’s plans) has been nothing short of a disaster. As one of the chief proponents of Common Core, Markell was the ringmaster for state accountability systems designed to perpetuate an endless cycle of high-stakes testing, school labeling, teacher shaming, and student rigor.
We now know Jack Markell really wants to be the U.S. Secretary of Education. John King is just filler until the next President. Town Square Delaware reported this morning that because John King stated Markell “has had his eye on this job for years” based on a Politico report about Hillary’s potential Cabinet posts. Granted, there are other contenders such as former Deputy Secretary of Education Jim Shelton, outgoing Chancellor of D.C. Schools Kaya Henderson, and even John King himself. None of those would be a good pick. If Clinton wins and picks any of these people, we will firmly know where she stands on education: she is a sell-out to corporations.
If Clinton wins and she nominates Markell as the next U.S. Secretary of Education, I will personally travel to D.C. to attend the Senate nomination hearing for Markell and testify against his capabilities to lead our country’s children. This would be a major step backwards, not forward. He is a corporate guy, not an education guy. He can’t stand parents butting into education, dislikes teachers, and goes back on his word constantly. This will not happen if I have anything to say about it. And I will not be the only one.
Do we really want a guy who allows state law to be circumvented by his administration. In the Chip Flowers FOIA scandal, Markell’s office is blocking sending out emails requested through a FOIA request because it has other legislators in the email. It’s called redacting those names! But Markell is shady, no doubt about it. But he is also good at covering up his tracks. Look at all the corporate tax loopholes he has created during his time as Governor. This is NOT the guy for education. The mail room for education? Sure. Not as the leader!
Just because The News Journal quoted John King as saying Markell has performed “nation-leading work” in early education does not qualify for him for this post. He has never been a teacher or even worked in public education. Think about that. Someone who only steps into a classroom to announce his latest agendas for corporate education reform…
You Have Until Monday To Submit Public Comment On Damaging Regulations Put Out By Corporate Education Dictator John King
Every Student Succeeds ActYou have until Monday, August 1st to submit public comment on the proposed regulations and rule-making put out by U.S. Secretary of Education John King on May 29th. After that, no more public comment will be accepted. You need to go to the Federal Register website, which can be found here. Read through the regulations. It is in-depth and monstrous. But the future of the children of America is at stake here. If you have been a big fan of the high-stakes testing anti-parental rights shame and label schools, teachers, and students era of education, then sit at home and watch the future of America crumble before your very eyes. If you want to prevent John King from furthering the bad policies and agendas, first laid out by No Child Left Behind and then magnified a hundred fold under Race To The Top, then please leave public comment.
This was my public comment:
I do not agree with most of these proposed regulations. It is a further attempt to exert federal control over state decisions. Furthermore, many of those in power at the state level have eroded local control to the point of absurdity. It is a parent’s fundamental and constitutional right to opt their child out of the state assessment. Any regulation proposing to punish schools for a parent’s decision is illegal. The ESEA regulations state that all schools must make sure children take the assessment, not that all students MUST participate in the state assessment. That regulation has been perverted over the years to take away parental rights. No state should have to follow regulations formed to serve testing companies and their profits more than the rights of parents, students, teachers, and schools. Education has become a for-profit center at the expense of children and those who truly serve them.
Since the advent of charter schools, the rate of high-stakes associated with testing has increased dramatically. Charter schools have led to more discrimination and segregation of at-risk children while our government has mostly turned a blind eye to these practices while allowing to flourish, multiply, and take away necessary funding from traditional public schools. Too many states have tampered with existing law and regulations so charter schools benefit, whether through artificial n#s leaving out many charter students from accountability rankings, or shifting funding to charter schools without giving those same funds to traditional school districts.
As a result of all of this federal intrusion, students with disabilities have lost. They have lost instruction, time, and accommodations in the name of the almighty state assessment. Common Core IS a curriculum and it has become so embedded into state education structure that getting it out will be a mammoth task. Common Core does not work, will not work, and never has worked.
In states like my own, Delaware, we have a corrupt Governor who has made it his mission to demean teachers and punish schools all in the guise of students becoming “college and career ready”. It is a complete farce and a lie. It is for companies to profit, not students. I will make it my mission in life to overturn every single regulation that this heavily lobbied Department makes under the illusion of “student success” that benefits others over children. I will fight competency-based education through digital personalized learning that sends data out to “research” companies like American Institutes for Research who benefit immensely as the essential creators of the Smarter Balanced Assessment and also serve as the vendor for the very same test in Delaware and others.
We have sold out our children to companies, and these proposed regulations will only further solidify the stranglehold they have on our students, teachers, and schools. Say NO to these regulations and give our children the capability to receive the true education they deserve, not this bastardized corporate version of education. Let’s let students with disabilities get the rights they deserve. Let’s let minority students not be subject to rigor in an attempt to “close the achievement gaps” that were created by corporations with tests designed for the upper-class. Let’s let parents decide (and they already do) if their child should or should not take the state assessment.
How dare this Department try to impose into law, with haste and desperation, the same type of regulatory schemes the Every Student Succeeds Act was supposed to get rid of before the lobbyists twisted the original intent of the law and Congress passed, very quickly I might add, a completely different law in a matter of weeks with little to no room for public comment or oversight. I expect our the United States of America government to immediately halt these regulations and to strip away the power of U.S. Secretary of Education John King so I no longer have to write comments like this in a Federal Register, as well as any future U.S. Secretary of Education.
Thank you.
With Great Power… The Perception Problem Of The State Board of Education
DE State Board of Education, Every Student Succeeds Act
“With great power must also come great responsibility.”-Stan Lee
If you haven’t heard those exact words before, then you have been victim to one of the greatest butcherings of the past fifty years.
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Now this you have heard.
in 1962, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced the world to the Amazing Spider-Man. We all know the story. Peter Parker gets bit by a radioactive spider which gave him the proportionate strength of a spider. An orphan who lived with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. He learned an important lesson very fast when he became a superhero. At first, he used his powers for fortune and fame. One night, he failed to stop a robber. The same burglar later attempted to rob his house and shot and killed his uncle. When Peter, dressed up as Spider-Man, finally confronted the burglar, he saw the same face he failed to stop. As he walked off into the night, he remembered what his Uncle Ben always told him, “With great power must also come great responsibility.”
This is the problem with the Delaware State Board of Education. The initial phrase Stan Lee provided to readers shows that just because you have power doesn’t mean you already possess an inherent sense of responsibility. That is something you have to develop and learn. The rewording of the classic phrase, which appeared in the 2002 Spider-Man movie, changes the concept of the phrase. As if power and responsibility are there from the start. As Delaware plows into the upcoming Every Student Succeeds Act regulations, this will become very important. I don’t feel our State Board has developed the responsibility that comes with their power. In fact, they want to hijack this term in their meetings about the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Many of the decisions they have made since 2008 have not been in the best and long-term interest of children. They embraced the corporate education reform movement and haven’t looked back. They continue to listen to the Rodel Foundation more than the teachers, students and parents who are their primary stakeholders. As a result, they have allowed an environment of false labels against schools, demeaned teachers, created a false illusion of praise for rushed teacher and leader programs, subjected our students to three different high-stakes tests that have not created improvement for anyone, manipulated legislators into believing their mantras, approved charter schools without any consistent or necessary follow-up to ensure they will be successful upon opening, revoked five charter schools, and nearly destroyed a generation of students. They will never take responsibility for these actions or events or even state they had anything to do with it. They will sit there and say most of these events were based on federal mandate or existing state law.
They have an opportunity now to change that. With the Every Student Succeeds Act, the law states that the United States Department of Education cannot dictate what type of state standard any state chooses to have. It also deals with parent opt out of state assessments as a state’s decision. However, U.S. Secretary of Education John King seems to have some comprehension issues as the regulations coming out of the U.S. DOE contradict what the law states. Granted, the law is a confusing mess and there are parts that contradict each other. King knows this and he is taking FULL advantage of it. King will, in all likelihood, be gone by January next year, but he will be able to approve regulations and state plans based on forced dictates from his office. That is NOT responsibility either. That is power run amok.
As our State Board of Education prepares to deal with these regulations, they are having a workshop on ESSA before their regular State Board of Education meeting on July 21st. They will go over what many of the corporate education reform companies are translating the law into along with King’s regulations and accepting it as the Gospel truth. This is a critical time for Delaware education. A wrong move by our State Board and Delaware DOE will leave us in the same problems we have faced since No Child Left Behind came into law fifteen years ago. If you read the below presentation, you can clearly see their interpretation of the law based on the regulations and what the education companies want. Keep in mind, many of these “companies” have never taught in a classroom. But they have a vested interest in education. Actually, make that an invested interest in education.
There are others who have power in education: parents, teachers, administrators, unions, and even students. I urge all of you to watch our State Board of Education and the Delaware DOE like a hawk. Yes, it’s the summer and in a couple of months kids will be back in schools with all the business surrounding that. This is why they are choosing now to push regulations through when parents aren’t paying attention. Those who want to profit off education are already on this. They helped to create ESSA. They have power but no responsibility. They will control education if we let them. And our own Governor, Jack Markell, has been the largest cheerleaders for this movement. Power, with no responsibility, or even accountability.
We need parents, teachers, administrators, and students to take a role in this. Don’t rely on me as a mouthpiece. I’m a hot-tempered judgmental and pissed-off dad who has already been through many wars over this stuff. I will continue to fight the war, but I could hit by a truck tomorrow. Even if you are busy, you need to make the time to attend any meeting about ESSA in Delaware. You need to review what our state is proposing, carefully watch the public comment timeframes, and make your voice known. As well, contact your state legislators and Congressmen. Let them know how you feel. We have the opportunity and means to take back our children’s education. But not if we don’t become a part of it. This is our power. This is our responsibility. We have to use our power and become responsible. If you are relying on our policymakers and unelected State Board of Education to get it right, then you have already allowed them to shape education into what they want. They want to control the conversation and trick us. They are masters at it. They will smile and invite you to their events and give you real yummy eclairs and make you feel special and wanted. But they don’t want you, they want your child. Make no mistake about it.
To add insult to injury, Delaware is embarking on a “regulatory review”. So not only do we have federal education regulations under review, but also a statewide regulatory review which could easily cause mass confusion. I believe this is very intentional. So if you are reading up on regulations, make absolutely sure you know which ones are state and which ones are federal.
If you want to change the future, you have to act now. Don’t wait until it’s too late. I will do my best to inform you and give crucial dates and timeframes, but make sure you also do this.
In this undiscovered moment
Lift your head up above the crowd
We could shake this world
If you would only show us how
Your life is now-John Mellancamp
Good News
Good NewsYesterday, Senator David Sokola laid his righteous judgment on Delaware blogs by stating we don’t talk about the good things happening in education. While I gave public comment at the meeting when he said this, indicating that was the DOE’s job and I will do my thing, maybe he is right. So here is some good news!
Senator David Sokola has a very worthy opponent for his Senate seat in the upcoming election and he is scared. Real scared.
Delaware has great teachers that no test can ever measure.
The students of Delaware are awesome and they are not failures.
The parents of Delaware are watching the General Assembly like never before and are calling them out on their antics.
Governor Markell will be gone after January.
Pete Schwartzkopf and Valerie Longhurst pissed off a ton of parents, teachers, citizens, and even fellow legislators last night. How is this good news? It was live and recorded.
Charter schools will have to record their board meetings in a few months and post them on their website.
Everybody now knows the Smarter Balanced Assessment is the worst test Delaware ever made.
Meredith Chapman is running for the 8th Senate District seat.
Precious Little still makes me laugh… a lot.
John King gets grilled by the US House Education and the Workforce Committee on a monthly basis.
God gave me the good fortune to be present at certain times and places to witness and record what happens in Delaware education.
Winter is coming.
Markell’s Former Girl Friday Lindsay O’Mara’s Big Blog Post On The US DOE Website
Lindsay O'Mara, US DOEWow! Everyone is blogging these days! Even former Education Policy Advisors for Delaware Governor Jack Markell. Lindsay O’Mara, who left Governor Markell’s administration earlier this year, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for State and Local Engagement at the United States Department of Education. What do we call that title? DASSLE? But I digress…
I don’t see this blog post, put up earlier today, as a coincidence. Her boss got shellacked by the Education and the Workforce Committee earlier today. Poor John King, in the eternal hot seat with those not willing to put up with his malarkey.
My favorite Lindsay story to tell is from the Delaware House Education Committee meeting on our opt out bill, House Bill 50. It is a well-known fact that you don’t just go up to legislators during a hearing, even if it a Delaware Education Committee meeting and the DOE just openly sits at legislators’ desks. Especially when they are just about to vote on whether or not they will release the bill from committee. But there’s Lindsay, running over to State Rep. Mike Ramone who was the swing vote on the bill. Trying to whisper something to Ramone. The Chair, State Rep. Earl Jaques, told Lindsay she couldn’t do that. She skirts away like she had absolutely no idea she shouldn’t. Yeah, right! The committee released the bill on the way to an eventual veto by her boss, but Lindsay kept many advocates for the bill (myself included) pretty busy in the Spring of 2015!
A View from the Field: Building Comprehensive ESSA Stakeholder Engagement
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind and reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, presents an opportunity to continue making progress towards educational equity and excellence for all. For the first time, the reauthorization of the nation’s defining elementary and secondary education law explicitly supports a preschool to college- and career-readiness vision for America’s students. It also creates the flexibility for states, districts, and educators to reclaim the promise of a quality, well-rounded education for every student while maintaining the protections that ensure our commitment to every child — particularly by identifying and reporting the academic progress of all of our students and by guaranteeing meaningful action is taken in our lowest performing schools and school with low performance among subgroups of students.
To realize this promise, states should engage meaningfully with a wide range of stakeholders to create a common vision of educational opportunity and accountability. This engagement can take many forms and still be successful. Regardless of the form, however, to be meaningful it must be wide-spread, inclusive, ongoing, and characterized by true collaboration. For the law to work we need all those who have a stake in our education system to have a seat at the table as states are making their plans.
While many states are still contemplating how to move forward, several have launched stakeholder engagement processes to start determining how to develop the best education systems for students in their states, and to explore the new flexibilities and opportunities within ESSA. Some have committees chaired by senior state officials working to develop plans for accountability systems, school interventions, and assessment systems, among other elements of the law. Others have solicited input more broadly and are taking a grass-roots approach to beginning their planning.
Although each state will ultimately pursue an engagement strategy that works for its local context, the work of others, and the guidance and tools that national education organizations have created for state and local government officials and stakeholders, may prove useful in devising those strategies. Here are a few examples of states and their unique approaches:
- There is grassroots engagement afoot in Pennsylvania, where Education Secretary Rivera has held a series of stakeholder sessions at the local level, creating working groups focusing on core issues of the law – e.g. accountability and assessment – to better allow citizens throughout the Commonwealth to engage on specific issues within the ESSA law. These working groups are comprised of a wide array of stakeholders including teachers, principals, community based organizations, education non-profits, businesses and higher education institutions.
- Strong executive leadership is the highlight of Alabama’s outreach strategy, where the Governor established a committee through an executive order to lead the development of the ESSA state plan. This ESSA Implementation Committee includes representatives from across the education community, including parents, educators, superintendents, school board members, school leaders, state Department of Education officials, and education policy advocates. In addition to the meetings of the committee itself, the chair and vice chair are holding subcommittee meetings on a variety of topics (including accountability, early learning, and standards and assessments), and plan to host public forums so local leaders and members of the public have an opportunity to weigh in on the development of the state plan. A full list of committee members, along with meeting dates, times, and locations, is available here. The Committee is also soliciting feedback and comments from the general public through an online webform.
- The Colorado Department of Education created an ESSA working group and in May led listening sessions in different regions of the state to gather input from stakeholders such as parents and teachers. The ESSA working group committees will utilize this information from the sessions to develop the state plan that will ultimately be approved by the Colorado State Board of Education.
As states continue to refine their plans it is important that citizens, civil rights groups, parents, educators and many more stakeholders become involved in the state and local level conversations on how to best implement ESSA both initially and in the months and years to come. Here are some highlights of the tools national organizations have created to help their members create a thoughtful and inclusive engagement plan:
- The Council of Chief State School Officers and more than 15 partnership organizations: ESSA Stakeholder Engagement Guide
- Learning First Alliance Principles on Consultation and Stakeholder Engagement: Stakeholder Engagement ESSA
- National School Boards Association: ESSA
- National Parent Teacher Association: Resources for Families on implementing ESSA
- ED Trust: ESSA: What’s in it? What does it mean for Equity?
- Coalition for Community Schools: Stakeholder Engagement
- Urban League: ESSA Toolkit
- National Association of Secondary School Principals: Learn the issues ESSA
- American Federation of Teachers: ESSA Facts
We look forward to supporting state and local leaders as they work to engage their constituents in developing high quality implementation plans that provide every student with a high quality world class education. For additional information, please read Secretary King’s Dear Colleague Letter to state and local leaders that highlights additional engagement materials developed by the U.S. Department of Education.
Lindsay O’Mara is Deputy Assistant Secretary for State and Local Engagement at the U.S. Department of Education.
Now I don’t expect you to read most of the above links. You can. But a lot of it is going to be corporate education reform mumbo-jumbo. Or it is corporate education reform mumb0-jumbo presented by organizations who have been brainwashed because of the mumbo-jumbo.
I wonder why she didn’t mention Delaware? Oh yeah, we don’t have any ESSA stakeholder groups. Just a clueless DOE and an even more clueless State Board of Education who will just take John King’s illegal regulations as law and implement them in Delaware while our crooked Governor sits back and goes cha-ching for all his buddies in Education Inc. while the students, teachers, parents, and schools suffer even more with high-stakes tests that offer nothing of meaning to anyone but the Rodel Foundation sure does love them!
We miss you in Delaware Lindsay! Legislative Hall hasn’t been the same without you!
John King Gets Grilled By John Kline Over ESSA Regulations
John King, John KlineThis morning, United States Secretary of Education John King was once again asked to testify in a hearing before the US House Education and the Workforce Committee. Chairman John Kline issued a press release:
Kline Statement on Hearing with Secretary of Education King
WASHINGTON, D.C. | June 23, 2016 – Rep. John Kline (R-MN), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, released the following statement after Secretary of Education John King concluded his testimony addressing implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act:
The Every Student Succeeds Act is based on the principle that state and local leaders can run their K-12 schools better than Washington bureaucrats. The law represents the best opportunity we’ve had in decades to provide every child in every school an excellent education. We will not allow the administration to destroy that opportunity by substituting its will for the will of Congress and for the will of our state and local education leaders. This hearing is an important opportunity to hold the administration accountable to those leaders and their students. We appreciate hearing from Secretary King, but in many ways he reinforced our concerns with the troubling direction the department is taking this new law. We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to ensure the letter and intent of the law are strictly followed. Our nation’s parents, teachers, and students deserve nothing less.
Kline also issued his opening statement in the hearing:
Kline Statement: Hearing on “Next Steps in K-12 Education: Examining Recent Efforts to Implement the Every Student Succeeds Act”
WASHINGTON, D.C. | June 23, 2016 – Welcome back, Secretary King, and thank you for joining us. When we last met, the process for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act was just getting underway. We had a healthy discussion about the bipartisan reforms Congress passed and the president signed into law. Those reforms are designed to restore state and local control over K-12 schools.That’s not just my own personal view. It’s the view held by governors, state lawmakers, teachers, parents, principals, and superintendents who recently wrote that, “[The Every Student Succeeds Act] is clear: Education decision-making now rests with states and districts, and the federal role is to support and inform those decisions.” It’s also the view of most honest observers. As the Wall Street Journal editorialized, the law represents the “largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century.”
That’s not just my own personal view. It’s the view held by governors, state lawmakers, teachers, parents, principals, and superintendents who recently wrote that, “[The Every Student Succeeds Act] is clear: Education decision-making now rests with states and districts, and the federal role is to support and inform those decisions.” It’s also the view of most honest observers. As the Wall Street Journal editorialized, the law represents the “largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century.”The reason for this hearing and our continued oversight is to ensure the letter and intent of the law are followed. A critical part of our effort is holding your agency accountable, Mr. Secretary, for the steps that are taken to implement the law. When you were with us in February, you said, “You can trust that we will abide by the letter of the law as we move forward …”
That is a strong statement, and it is one of several commitments you’ve made that the department would act responsibly. But actions speak louder than words. In recent months, we have seen troubling signs of the department pulling the country in a different direction than the one Congress provided in the law.
The first troubling sign is the rulemaking process itself. There are a number of concerns about the integrity of the negotiated rulemaking committee, including the makeup of the panel, the lack of rural representation, and the accuracy of statements made by department staff. The point of the negotiated rulemaking process is to build consensus among those directly affected by the law, yet it seems the department decided to stack the deck to achieve its own preferred outcomes.
The second troubling sign surrounds the long-standing policy that federal funds are to supplement, not supplant, state and local resources. Prior to the Every Student Succeeds Act, this rule was applied differently depending on how many low-income students a school served; some schools faced more onerous requirements than others. Last year, Congress decided the rule would be enforced equally across all schools. Now, school districts must simply show that funds are distributed fairly without prescribing a specific approach or outcome. The law explicitly prohibits the secretary from interfering, yet that is precisely what your proposal would do.
What the department is proposing would be both illegal and harmful to students and communities. It would impose a significant financial burden on states and force countless public school districts to change how they hire and pay their teachers. This regulatory effort is trying to achieve an end Congress deliberately rejected and that the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service warns goes beyond “a plain language reading of the statute.” No doubt you have good intentions, Mr. Secretary, but you do not have the legal authority to do this. I strongly urge you to abandon this flawed scheme.
The third troubling sign is the department’s accountability proposal. Let me note that there are policies in this proposal we are pleased to see, such as how states set long-term goals and measure interim progress. But in a number of ways, we also see the department’s bad habit for making decisions that must be left to states.
This is especially troubling given the law’s explicit prohibitions against federal interference, including how states compare school performance and identify schools for support. For years, states grappled with a rigid accountability system imposed by Washington. The Every Student Succeeds Act turns the page on that failed approach and restores these decisions back to state and local leaders. I urge you, Mr. Secretary, to adopt a final proposal that fully reflects the letter and spirit of the law.
We are raising these concerns because it’s vitally important for the laws written by Congress to be faithfully executed. And just as importantly, we are raising these concerns because we want to ensure every child has the best chance to receive a quality education. We cannot go back to the days when the federal government dictated national education policy—it didn’t work then and won’t work now.
If the department refuses to follow the letter and intent of the law, you will prevent state leaders, like Dr. Pruitt from Kentucky, from doing what’s right for their school districts. You will deny superintendents, like Dr. Schuler of Arlington Heights, Illinois, the ability to manage schools in a way that meets the needs of their local communities. And you will make it harder for teachers, like Cassie Harrelson from Aurora, Colorado, to serve the best interests of the students in their classrooms.
Later, we will hear from these individuals because they represent the people we want to empower. Every child in every school deserves an excellent education, and the only way to achieve that goal is to restore state and local control. That’s what the Every Student Succeeds Act is intended to do, and we will use every tool at our disposal to ensure the letter and intent of the law are followed.
Delaware Signs Up For Ed-Flex Waiver Schemes Under ESSA
Delaware DOE, Every Student Succeeds ActI didn’t expect to find this yesterday, but there it was. An approval letter from the United States Department of Education to the Delaware DOE about Ed-Flex waivers. The very thing that the Every Student Succeeds Act was supposed to get rid of. Instead, we have more of the same. Using regulations by the feds and the states to keep the level of corruption going well into the next year. I don’t see the Delaware DOE putting this in their news blasts. Probably because they want to tuck it away on their website where most of the public wouldn’t even think to look.
Is this even legal under the Every Student Succeeds Act? It most certainly is, but this is another reason I opposed this federal legislation when it came out last November. It was so enormous in scope that no one could have dissected it enough before the US House and Senate voted on it and President Obama signed it into law on December 10th. Will US Secretary of Education John King abuse this in his last seven months and a week as the Secretary? Most assuredly so! It’s what he does.
I don’t take these things with a grain of salt. I see them as very dangerous not only to Delaware education, but education across the United States. If Delaware is doing this, chances are very good other states are as well. I’ve already contacted the US House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair John Kline (MN) about this:
Good afternoon members of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
I was very concerned about a letter Secretary of Education John King sent to Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Steven Godowsky recently concerning “Ed-Flex” states. It authorizes Delaware, under ESSA, to continue to be an Ed-Flex state. Which is just more waiver schemes. Didn’t ESSA do away with this? Here is a link to the letter:
I find it very disheartening that Secretary King is continuing to justify the very schemes ESSA sought to destroy. Please take a look into this matter and if you could please advise me as to the outcome.
Best regards,
Kevin Ohlandt
Dover, DE
We will see if they respond without some scripted and watered down response. I’m hoping they take it seriously as John King was called out by Kline on a few occasions the past few months.
The Season Of Myths 