Engaging OUR community through print, digital, programs, and technology.

Greetings,

Our ESSA Public Awareness Campaign is off to a great start! Thank you to all who had an opportunity to attend our first event this past January in Ft. Lauderdale during the 2017 NNPA Mid-Winter Conference. If you did not have an opportunity to attend please take a moment and review coverage of the event by the LA Sentinel. During the 2017 NNPA Mid-Winter Conference we also introduced the award-winning educator, Dr. Elizabeth Primas, as our ESSA campaign program manager. Learn more about her in The Westside Gazette.

Moving forward we will continue to emphasize the importance of education to our community by ensuring our communities active participation concerning ESSA implementation. Our service as journalist must include a dedication to educating our youth. Our responsibility is to find the opportunity and seize it.

ESSA is scheduled to be implemented during the 2017-2018 school year. States have been busy preparing proposals on how they will improve educational opportunities for the socially disadvantaged, English language learners, and other sub-groups who have historically been underserved, undereducated, and overly targeted as at-risk for failure in school, and a direct applicant for the school to prisonpipeline. Obama called the ESSA bill “the great civil rights act of education”. States are holding hearings to get feedback and input from parents, students and community stakeholders.

We encourage our member publishers to keep your local communities engaged by staying up-to-date with your states plans for ESSA implementation and continuing the conversation nationally by sharing those stories with us.

Dr. Elizabeth Primas, ESSA Program Manager
Lynette Monroe, ESSA Newsletter Editor


NNPA Student Education Program and Workshops Summary
2017 NNPA Mid-Winter Conference

Comment Responses

Based on the information you received today, and your prior knowledge, what would you tell teachers, parents, and students about ESSA?

ESSA expands on Bush’s NCLB Act and helps individualize schools to meet the needs of students. It will ensure that when parents, students, and teachers work together, nothing will stop us. – Alexis

I had no prior knowledge about ESSA, however the information I’ve received today makes me hopeful for the future of our school system. ESSA plans to eliminate some of the unnecessary assessments and focus specifically on the tests we need for college readiness.  – Deniel

I would tell students that the ESSA is important to our education. To my parents, I would tell them to vote for people who protect ESSA. – Nyan


This Month’s Featured Articles:

State Dept. of Education requests feedback

The Philadelphia Tribune announced a public comment meeting on ESSA for education stakeholders and the community; hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Education that was held on February 2nd. Read more…

Republican Lawmakers Attack Obama’s Education Law

Without hesitation, Jill Lauren said that the most critical program that should be included under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is proper reading instruction beginning in kindergarten. Read more…

Why We Must Defend Obama’s Every Student Succeeds Act

When President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015, policy makers and educators saw this as an opportunity to invest in new methods for student success-contrary to the No Child Left Behind Act. But, what about parents and community leaders? Read more…


Upcoming ESSA Public Awareness Events

ESSA Student and Community Awareness Breakfast
March 24, 2017
8AM – 10:30AM
The Dupont Circle Hotel
1500 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036
Register NOW!

From the Newsletter Editor

“Education is exposure. Exposure creates vision. Vision defines success.”
— Lynette Monroe

 

From the Program Manager

“As we come to the end of Black History Month, historically education was the route out of poverty, it still is.”
— Elizabeth Primas, EdD, EdS

 

From the NNPA Chair

“The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has a long distinguished tradition of advocating for the highest quality public education for millions of African American students throughout the United States.  We are raising public awareness today about the challenges and opportunities of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for parents, students, educators, and community leaders.  Education is one of the most important keys to the empowerment of our families, businesses and communities.”
— Denise Rolark Barnes

From the NNPA President & CEO

“As we celebrate the 190th anniversary of the Black Press of America in 2017, there is no more important issue for the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) than the education of our students in public school systems K-12 across the nation. Every parent, student, teacher, education administrator, state legislator, members of the U.S. Congress, and officials of the U.S. Department of Education all need to be held accountable for how effective the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is being implemented in each state. Each month we offer this newsletter as an update to keep you informed. The future of all our children is at stake! Visit www.nnpa.org/ESSA ”
— Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis

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