Senate ESEA Draft: Review of Approved Amendments– Part III (All Done)
On April 16, 2015, the Senate education committee approved the Alexander-Murray draft of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), a 601-page document entitled, The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015.
The draft approval was accompanied by 29 amendments, which can be found on this Senate ed page.
I reviewed the entire original 601-page Alexander-Murray draft in a series of six posts that can be accessed here.
I have already reviewed 20 of the 29 amendments. My review of the first 10 can be accessed here, and the second 10 can be accessed here.
In this post, I conclude my review of the 29 amendments with the last nine.
Let’s jump right in.
This nine-page amendment adds to Title VII (“Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education”) grants for Native American and Alaska Native Immersion schools and programs. That is, these grants promote the usage of Native American and Alaska native languages as the primary languages of instruction. Of course, given this is ESEA in 2015, one goal is “to improve student outcomes within Native American and Alaska native communities,” which means test scores, but it also includes, “if appropriate, rates of high school graduation, career readiness, and enrollment in postsecondary education or job training programs” (pg. 6).
An interesting limitation to the US secretary of education is that he/she is not allowed “to give a priority in awarding grants… based on the information described in paragraph (1)(E)” (pg. 6)– which means that the secretary cannot use this grant cannot to give priority to Native American and Alaskan native charter schools or private schools over local education agencies or tribal education agencies.
The terms of reporting the usages of the grant to the secretary is loosely defined in this grant: “Each eligible entity that receives a grant under this part shall provide an annual report to the Secretary in such form and manner as the Secretary may require” (pg. 9).
This single-page amendment to Title I clarifies that the stipulations of states’ implementing assessments that are the same for all students (except for those students “with the most significant cognitive disabilities” {pg. 41}) is not to be confused with the federal government determining state or local law regarding opting children out of such state assessments:
RULE OF CONSTRUCTION ON PARENT AND GUARDIAN RIGHTS–Nothing in this part shall be construed as preempting a State or local law regarding the decision of a parent or guardian’s child participate in the statewide academic assessments under this paragraph.
In other words, the federal government wants to stay out of state and local decisions regarding parental opt-out laws. In order for such to be true, it must be the case that the federal government honors a state’s good-faith “implementation” of testing in accordance with the requirements for Title I funding and holds the state implementation as separate from student completion of the state-implemented tests when issues of parental rights enter the picture.
This nine-page amendment to Title II (“High Quality Teachers, Principals, and Other School Leaders”) adds grants for “supporting high-ability learners and learning.” This part is also given the name, “Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 2015.” As the name states, this amendment is “to build and enhance the ability of elementary schools and secondary schools nationwide to meet the special education needs of gifted and talented students” (pg. 2). At the center of this amendment is the goal of meeting those “challenging State academic standards.”
Entities eligible for grants under this amendment include state and local education agencies; higher ed institutions, “other public agencies, and other private agencies and organizations to assist such agencies…” (pg. 3); so, it seems that any “agency” or “institution” is eligible to apply.
The secretary is also supposed to consult with “experts in the field of the education of gifted and talented students” in order “to establish a national Research Center for the Education of Gifted and Talented Children and Youth. A private entity may not lead this research center; only a state ed agency, or higher ed institution, or a “consortium” of state ed, higher ed, and “other public of private agencies or organizations” (pg. 5).
This 30-page amendment is to Title IV (“Safe and Healthy Students”) and is for “21st Century Community Learning Centers.” The amendment is to provide “tutoring… Senate ESEA Draft: Review of Approved Amendments– Part III (All Done) | deutsch29: