ESEA reauthorization passes House
On Wednesday, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was reauthorized with a 359 to 64 vote. The new version of ESEA will give control back to states and local education agencies to monitor student progress,requires states to continue testing in reading and math, will prevent states from having to evaluate all, and will continue to require states to focus on the lowest performing five percent of schools and high schools with fewer than 2/3 graduation rates.
This new iteration of ESEA will test whether states and local education agencies will continue to monitor academic and opportunity gaps for our nation’s most vulnerable children or rather; we will revert back to an inconsistent hodgepodge of standards reflected in the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” Our hope is that local community advocates, families, and students will hold state and local authorities accountable for improvements and leverage resources and political power to fight for the educational rights of all children.
