Dive Brief:
- The Every Student Succeeds Act grants more power to individual states over the use of federal aid, and in California that means $200 million of a $2.5 billion total is marked as discretionary.
- EdSource reports the state board of education is launching a statewide discussion on how best to spend the money this week, and it will gather feedback to inform a plan that is due to the federal government by July.
- Current ideas include using money to support implementation of new academic standards, offer principal and administrator training programs, strengthen county offices of education to support districts, and fund research into best practices and top resources that teachers and principals can then share back.
Dive Insight:
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was first passed in 1965 as part of the flood of civil rights bills approved by Congress. Its story is one of equity. The federal government created a role for itself in education as a way to overcome the disparities in education funding at the local level. During the Obama administration, the U.S. Department of Education wrestled great power for itself over local decision-making through the waiver process, which freed schools from the sanctions of No Child Left Behind but with big strings attached.
The next president will have far less control over state and district decision-making, which means it is up to educators and leaders at these levels to ensure equity remains a priority. Plenty of civil rights advocates worry that not every state or district has the will to do that. Now is the time for educators to prove them wrong.
