Jan 04, 2018
With only days to go before 35 states must submit their education reform plans for USDOE approval, policy experts worry not much will change for schools in need.
The 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was meant to hand more policy power and flexibility back to the state. There was some good news in there for tutors, too: states can now allocate more resources to academic tutoring; and the ACT and SAT were given more prominence as alternatives to state-specific standardized testing.
Problem is: in a recent review by independent experts, only 11 states got a top score in at least one of the experts’ categories for review.
Even worse: education equity and civil rights advocates are concerned most states “have taken a pass” on reforming underperforming schools and doing “the minimal amount required by law.” The U.S. Department of Education isn’t helping, either, they say, approving some states’ plans with serious flaws while demanding other states comply with “long to-do lists.”
With only 15 states’ and D.C.’s plans approved by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, time is running out for the rest, with a legislated deadline for final proposals falling on next Monday, January 8, 2018.
banner image from https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-01-03/concerns-mount-over-state-k-12-education-plans
Concerns Mount Over K-12 Education Plans https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-01-03/concerns-mount-over-state-k-12-education-plans
