Shared with permission from the group “KS Grass root education warriors”
November 14, 2024
They can’t just say we are dismantling the Federal Department of Education, without ditching the ESSA law!
ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law by President Obama on December 10, 2015.
Note: The government usually names things with words that are actually the opposite of what it claims.
Just as NCLB (No Child Left Behind) was a reauthorization of the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), the ESSA is the most current reauthorization.
The bill was passed by the House by a vote of 359 to 64. (359 = 178 Republicans + 181 Democrats; 64 = 64 Republicans)
The bill was passed by the Senate by a vote of 85 to 12. (85 = 40 Republicans + 45 Democrats; 12 = 12 Republicans)
Sen. Rand Paul voted against the bill.
Jeb Bush supported the passage of ESSA.
It was the REPUBLICANS that got the bill passed!
Per Secretary Arne Duncan, “I had a Democratic congressman say to me that it’s a miracle – he’s literally never seen anything like it.”
The bill would embed “college and career ready standards” (Common Core) making it impossible for states to not have them.
The copyright owners of Common Core – the NGA (National Governors Association) and CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers) supported the bill.
Congressmen were given two days to read the 1,061 page bill.
The erroneous claim was made that the bill gave states control over the standards.
1. Federal control increased.
The ESSA actually increases federal control, not giving it to the states. Per Jane Robbins:
The state plan (which includes the state standards) must be coordinated with 11 different federal statutes. These include the Soviet-style Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act that’s designed to connect the K-12 education system to government-controlled workforce-development, the Head Start act that centralizes preschool standards, the Education Sciences Reform Act (which seeks to boost data-collection on students), etc.
If the state standards must be coordinated to all these, that means the standards must be either Common Core or something like Common Core – standards that are focused on minimal workforce-development, rather than academic knowledge.
Standards based on a classical education model, for example, wouldn’t qualify. Given these requirements, states will almost certainly stick with Common Core rather than risk their federal money by trying something else. (emphases added)
There is also a higher education requirement. Per Jane Robbins, “There’s obviously a huge disparity between the requirements of a community college and, say, Harvard,” she continues. “So since ESSA also requires that ALL students be held to these standards (with the exception of those with the most severe cognitive disabilities), states will obviously choose the community-college standards. Guess what standards are already out there that are (admittedly) designed to prepare students only for community college? Common Core. (emphases added)
2. Federal expansion of preschool.
The ESSA greatly expanded preschool and placed it with HHS (Health and Human Services Department). Per Lindsey Burke, “The ESSA codifies a $250 million pre-K program in law, and houses the program at HHS (to be jointly administered by the Department of Education).”
Perhaps a disturbing reminder for opponents of the Common Core reform’s competitive Race to the Top grant program, is that the ESSA’s authorization of the $250 million for the preschool program would make permanent a competitive grant program that awards federal dollars to states that enhance their preschool offerings for low-income students.
The grant program is a strong sign the federal government is still coercing states in the area of education. (emphases added)
3. Created numerous new programs, including “family engagement,” and authorized high levels of federal spending. (How’s that “local” for you?)
More on what has passed: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/11/18/early-essa/
Private education was not left behind: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2016/03/01/warriors-guide-to-essa-and-private-education/
ESSA expanded in 2019, including SEL and mental health: https://www.commoncorediva.com/2019/02/26/expanding-essa/
FIRST STEPS in order for the States to not have to be under federal control:
1) Repeal ESSA and every law connected to it before, during, and since its passage into law.
2) Defund ALL the funding streams. (There are a lot.)
3) Remove ALL the plans and entanglements by which all the other federal agencies ABSORB the “doings” of the US Dept of Education.
We should not forget that Common Core was funded by George Soros. I am hoping that the new Department of Government Efficiency will eliminate most of the jobs in the Department of Education. Even better would be to eliminate the department altogether. Whatever it takes to free our children and grandchildren from the clutches of education in its current form is what we have to do.