Washington, D.C. — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in a speech Monday touted new, looser rules for state implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act in a speech that received a lukewarm reception from leaders of the country’s largest city school districts.
The new rules, which lay out how states should rate schools and improve those that aren’t performing well, implement ESSA as Congress intended, with the flexibility state and local leaders need and deserve, DeVos said.
“Too often, the Department of Education has gone outside of its established authority and created roadblocks, wittingly or unwittingly, for parents and educators alike. This isn’t right, nor is it acceptable. Under this administration, we will break this habit,” DeVos said.
The new ESSA regulations will require only what’s absolutely necessary to implement the law as written, DeVos said.
“When Washington gets out of your way, you should be able to unleash new and creative thinking to set children up for success,” she said.
Education Department staff live-tweeted highlights of the speech, receiving scores of critical tweets in response from some of the secretary’s social media foes…
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