Establishment Washington Republicans could not say enough this past week about how the 1,061-page Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reduces the federal government’s role in education and that it eliminates the fed’s coercion of states to stick with the unpopular Common Core standards. Perhaps most significant to these Republicans is that the bill was a self-proclaimed model of “bipartisanship.”
A national coalition of parents is releasing a letter to House and Senate education committee leaders urging them to suspend their talks on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal law until a new administration is elected.
Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams expressed his hope that the feds will grant the state a permanent No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) waiver, a message buried within his weekend announcement about rolling out tougher criteria for the state’s annual standardized public and charter school testing.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced Tuesday that the U.S. Education Department (USED) finally renewed the state’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver on a short-term 2015-16 basis.
The authors observe that regardless of the decision in Jindal’s case, state and local school boards are facing significant challenges in “the collapsing morale and educational achievement of their students,” and need to consider their own legal path to rid themselves of the Common Core boondoggle.
Potential 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush has made it clear that he will continue his support for the controversial Common Core standards initiative, despite the fact that the conservative base of the GOP is overwhelmingly opposed to it. His education foundation, in fact, is offering online courses for policy-makers focusing on how to promote the idea that the standards are necessary for national security, why data collection is essential, and how to win over parents, teachers, and citizens in the education reform conversation.
The U.S. Senate passed an amendment Thursday that bans the federal government from coercing or incentivizing states to adopt specific academic standards, curriculum, or assessments, including those associated with the controversial Common Core standards.
