Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Secretary DeVos Unveils Parents' Guide to ESSA Flexibilities

  • 10/04/18

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today released a parent and guardian-friendly guide to the important flexibilities in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The "Dear Parent" letter, written in plain language, was released at a roundtable with parents, students and educators in Mississippi as part of the Secretary's "Rethink School" tour. The guide is available here.

"At the core of ESSA is an acknowledgment that Washington doesn't know best when it comes to educating our nation's students," said Secretary DeVos. "Our focus is on returning power to the hands of parents, states and local educators, where it belongs. Parents should not have to parse through a 500-page legal document to understand how a law or policy affects their children's education."

DeVos continued, "Because states and districts have significant flexibility in how they meet the requirements of the law, parents should know and have a voice in how they use that flexibility to best help their children. These new resources will help empower those closest to students with information they need to be informed advocates as education decisions are made at the state and local level."

ESSA marked a seminal step taken by Congress to devolve power over education out of Washington and return it into the hands of states and local educators. The flexibilities included in ESSA are wide-ranging, including: allowing states the opportunity to implement innovative tests, not just a statewide test; broad discretion for states to design accountability systems to hold schools accountable for student achievement; a public school choice option for students in schools identified for comprehensive improvement; the ability to use federal funds to provide "direct student services" that it otherwise couldn't, such as enabling students to enroll in different courses; and the opportunity to combine funds to better support students.

The guide includes a 19-slide presentation that highlights the different ways states and districts can meet the letter of the law. Along with the guide, a summary document highlights the options that ESSA provides to states and school districts, and a more technical document explains how ESSA's flexibility can affect the way that states, districts and schools meet the law's requirements for academic standards, testing and more.

You can find these materials, along with all the other ESSA resources, here.

Featured

  • Miami University Approves New $242M Multipurpose Arena

    Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, recently announced that its Board of Trustees has approved construction of a new multipurpose arena at Cook Field, according to university news. The $242-million project will serve as a new centralized hub for student life and create space for economic development on campus.

  • DFW-Area District Opens New Replacement Middle School

    The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District near Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new replacement middle school campus, according to a news release. The new facility for Wayside Middle School, originally established in 1964, was built on the site of the former district administration building and funded through Bond Proposition A in 2023.

  • Photo credit: Elkus Manfredi Architects

    University of Virginia Selects Design-Build Team for New Residential Complex

    The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., recently announced that it has selected a design-build team for a new upper-class residential development on campus, according to a news release. Capstone Development Partners—in partnership with Elkus Manfredi Architects and the Hoar Construction/Hourigan construction team—will move forward with the three-building, 310,000-square-foot housing facility.

  • Arizona District Breaks Ground on Community Training, Learning Center

    The Tolleson Union High School District (TUHSD) in Tolleson, Ariz., recently broke ground on a new Training & Learning Center (TLC) for both district professionals and the community at large, according to a news release. The 90,000-square-foot facility has an estimated completion date of spring 2027.