LOUISVILLE – A remarkable experiment in school desegregation has thrived for four decades in this Kentucky city and its suburbs, surviving fierce resistance from the Ku Klux Klan and a legal defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Even as integration efforts faded across much of the South and schools nationwide have grown more segregated by race and class in recent years, Jefferson County persisted in using busing and magnet programs to strengthen diversity in the classroom.
White and black and poor and rich children share schools to a greater extent here than in most large districts across the country, leading to friendships across the usual social divides and giving rise to what school officials say are stronger academic outcomes for disadvantaged students…
This week, I led a group of 10 senators in introducing a resolution to rescind an Obama administration education regulation that violates the 2015 law I helped write to fix No Child Left Behind.
On Nov. 29, the U.S. Department of Education released its final regulation for implementing the accountability provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act – and the rule specifically does things or requires states to do things that Congress said in our law fixing No Child Left Behind that the department can’t do. In other words, the department’s regulation specifically violates the law. It’s not a matter of just being within the authority granted by the law. We said to the department, “You can’t tell states exactly what to do about fixing low-performing schools. That’s their decision.” This rule does that. And we said to the department, “You can’t tell states exactly how to rate the public schools in your state,” but this rule does that.
The resolution to rescind the regulation is co-sponsored by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Bill Cassidy, R-La., David Perdue, R-Ga., Roger Wicker, R-Miss., John McCain, R-Ariz., Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
This is really a question of whether you believe that the U.S. Congress writes the law or whether you believe the U.S. Department of Education writes the law. I believe under Article I of our Constitution, the U.S. Congress writes the law, and when it’s signed by the president, then that’s the law, and the regulations have to stay within it – and that is especially true when Congress has prohibited the department from doing these things the rule does.
And this isn’t a trivial matter. The whole issue around the bill fixing No Child Left Behind was to reverse the trend to a national school board and restore to states, classroom teachers and parents decisions about what to do about their children in public schools.
Teachers, governors, school boards all were fed up with Washington telling them so much about what to do about their children in 100,000 public schools. So this rule, which contravenes the law specifically, goes to the heart of the bill fixing No Child Left Behind, which received 85 votes in the U.S. Senate.
Lamar Alexander represents Tennessee in the U.S. Senate.
Dr. Tony Marchese of ICF interviews Dr. Caitlin Howley and Dr. Jobi Lawrence of the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center to establish a basic understanding of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This is the first of a three-part series based upon the following objectives:
1. Inform citizens in region about federal education law
2. Explore how the new law might affect states, local districts and schools
3. Provide information about how to provide input to the law as a public education stakeholder
Overview of Programs in Series
Program One: Introduce public to how each state in the Appalachian Region is transitioning to the new law
Program Two: Highlight thoughtful approaches to ESSA planning
Program Three: Examine challenges related to planning for ESSA implementation
Caitlin Howley directs the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center, which provides technical assistance to state education agencies in four states. She also conducts research and evaluation of school, college, and professional development programs across the Appalachian region. Previously, Howley was Associate Director of the ARCC, provided evaluation for several Comprehensive Centers, and served as a Research and Evaluation Specialist with the Appalachia Regional Education Laboratory.
Jobi Lawrence serves as a consultant of the ARCC as well as the Title III Director in a State Education Agency. Over the course of her career in education, Lawrence has served as an ESL and Bilingual Co-Teacher, a faculty member in higher education and an administrator in higher education and a state government agency.
Dr. Tony Marchese of ICF interviews Dr. Caitlin Howley and Dr. Jobi Lawrence of the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) to establish a basic understanding of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This is the first of a three-part series based upon the following objectives:
1. Inform citizens in region about federal education law
2. Explore how the new law might affect states, local districts and schools
3. Provide information about how to provide input to the law as a public education stakeholder
Overview of Programs in Series
Program One: Introduce public to how each state in the Appalachian Region is transitioning to the new law
Program Two: Highlight thoughtful approaches to ESSA planning
Program Three: Examine challenges related to planning for ESSA implementation
Caitlin Howley directs the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center, which provides technical assistance to state education agencies in four states. She also conducts research and evaluation of school, college, and professional development programs across the Appalachian region. Previously, Howley was Associate Director of the ARCC, provided evaluation for several Comprehensive Centers, and served as a Research and Evaluation Specialist with the Appalachia Regional Education Laboratory.
Jobi Lawrence serves as a consultant of the ARCC as well as the Title III Director in a State Education Agency. Over the course of her career in education, Lawrence has served as an ESL and Bilingual Co-Teacher, a faculty member in higher education and an administrator in higher education and a state government agency.
