Reauthorization of ESEA

The ST Caucus Leadership cannot celebrate the changes in the reauthorization of ESEA. While the federal decoupling of the teacher evaluations from the tests is a necessary first step, these changes do NOT go far enough in remediating the damage that High Stakes Tests have on students and schools, and do not adequately address the needs of special education students, English Language Learners and struggling schools. The discontinuation of irresponsible and harmful annual testing, which is expressly designed for political expediency to create the illusion of failure, must be included in the changes. While we can applaud the move to return control to states and local school boards, the legislation perpetuates a twenty-year-long failed experiment that solely benefits corporations and their investors, and leaves children behind. The reality is that ESEA will become law, but we need to continue to fight to make this flawed legislation better. The ST Caucus and its coalition partners will continue to raise their collective voice to advocate on behalf of students, parents, teachers and public education.