Rewrite of ESEA Bill Doesn’t Address Educational Needs of Minority Students

Posted on 04/20/2015 @ 07:45 PM

Tags: Advocacy, Take Action, Education

Photo credit: Advance the Struggle

By: Luis Torres, LULAC National, Director of Policy and Legislation

Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee passed a preliminary rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). By the end of the relatively calm session, the committee announced its bipartisan support of the new Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA), which was passed through the committee without a single dissenting voice from either side.

Some major differences between the ECAA and the expired No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Law:

• Eliminates adequately yearly progress (AYP) for schools
• Eliminates supplemental educational services
• Eliminates public school choice for low-performing schools

Major differences between ECAA and the existing Department of Education waiver policy:

• No requirement for bottom 5 percent of schools to be identified
• No priority schools
• No requirement for teacher evaluations
• No requirement for high schools with low graduation rates to be identified for improvement

MAJOR ISSUES WITH THE BILL REMAIN – UNANIMOUS VOTE BY SENATE PANEL DISAPPOINTS CIVIL RIGHTS COMMUNITY

While a rewrite of No Child Left Behind is desperately needed, the current version of ECAA fails to sufficiently address major issues, such as the lack of subgroup accountability in the Title I portion of the ECAA. LULAC strongly urged Senators to include language that would require interventions when Latino students and other underserved student populations fall through the cracks. Additionally, LULAC supported the inclusion of language that would identify triggers for required interventions and additional measures to target schools with high drop-out rates.

LULAC joined several civil rights groups in sending letters to the Senate HELP Committee urging their support for these critical issues:

• 4/13/15- LULAC joined other organizations in sending letter opposing private school vouchers in the Every Child Achieves Act to Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray of the Senate HELP committee. Click here to view the letter.

• 4/13/15- LULAC joined other organizations in sending letter in support of reforming the Every Child Achieves Act to Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray of the Senate HELP committee. Click here to view the letter.

• 4/13/15- LULAC joined other organizations in sending letter in support of the Student Non-Discrimination Act to the Senate HELP Committee. Click here to view the letter.

• 2/2/2015: LULAC joined MALDEF, SEARAC, and other civil rights groups in sending coalition letter to Senate HELP Committee detailing priorities and principles for the reauthorization of ESEA. Read the letter here.

• 1/29/2015: LULAC signed on to civil rights education coalition letter to Senate HELP Committee detailing priorities and principles for the reauthorization of ESEA. Read the letter here.

• 1/12/2015: As Co-Chair of the Hispanic Education Coalition, LULAC sent a letter to U.S. Senate HELP Committee outlining priorities for the upcoming ESEA Reauthorization. Read the letter here.

Despite this feedback, LULAC’s supported language was not included in the ECAA and because of this, LULAC National urged Senators to oppose approving the bill out of committee. Moving forward, LULAC will continue to monitor ECAA and work with Senators as the bill makes it way to the floor. We will continue to oppose the bill without any significant changes.

To watch video of the mark-up, click here.

For a comprehensive list of all amendments that passed, failed, or were withdrawn, consult the following EdWeek article here on the final bill.

Luis Torres is the Director of Policy and Legislation for the League of United Latin American Citizens. Prior to LULAC, he served as Legislative Director for Congressman Silvestre Reyes, former-Chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and was one of a handful of Latino Legislative Directors in the U.S. House of Representatives. Additionally, Torres also served as a high school teacher in Washington, D.C. as part of Teach for America. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Sociology from Georgetown University, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from American University.