CONGRESS AGAIN FAILS TO TACKLE EQUITY IN REVISED FEDERAL EDUCATION LAW

By: David G. Sciarra and Molly A. Hunter

On December 9, 2016, Congress passed a bill reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and President Obama signed it today. The new “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA) retreats somewhat from excessive high-stakes testing, and eases up on sanctions and labels for schools, teachers and students. Overall, the law moves away from narrow federal mandates on testing and accountability, leaving states to their historic and central role in educating our nation’s public school children.

But once again, Congress has failed to confront the central problems that plague most of our 50 separate state school systems.

The new law, like the “No Child Left Behind” Act (NCLB) it replaces, gives the States free reign to continue the vast and debilitating inequities and disparities in their school systems. For our nation’s most vulnerable children, ESSA is “same as it ever was.”

Most states are shortchanging schools the funding and programs needed to give all children the chance to succeed, especially the growing numbers of children in poverty in districts and states across the country. Millions of children in our state systems attend schools deprived of the teachers, support staff and other resources essential to learning. Only a handful of states have made the effort to overhaul their finance systems to deliver those resources to schools and students most in need.

Congress could have required the states move away from funding schools based on dollars and politics to providing students and schools the resources necessary to achieve academically. Congress could have required states to build capacity to deliver high quality supports to,font help high risk schools and districts to improve. And Congress could have taken bold action to press states to dramatically expand access to high quality early education to give at-risk youngsters the opportunity for school readiness. Congress received these recommendations from the federal Equity Commission in 2013 but chose to ignore them.

Parents and advocates deserve credit for pushing Congress to retreat from NCLB’s extreme test and punish provisions. But with the states now firmly in the education driver’s seat, parents and advocates must turn their attention to their statehouses. Parents and advocates must now build strong campaigns for education equity in every state, demanding governors and legislators provide fair funding, support high poverty schools, and offer high quality preschool to every vulnerable three- and four-year old.

ESSA, like its NCLB predecessor, will do little to help every student succeed. But every student matters. It’s time to let the state lawmakers responsible for our public schools know.

Press Contact:

Molly A. Hunter
Director, Education Justice
mhunter@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 19

Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240