2017: Fitzpatrick Voted To Disapprove A Rule Implementing The ESSA's
Implementation Of Statewide Accountability Systems. In February 2017,
Fitzpatrick voted for a resolution that, according to Congressional
Quarterly, "disapproves of the rule issued by the Education Department
on Nov. 29, 2016, known as the Accountability and State Plans Under ESEA
Rule, which addresses the design and implementation by states of
statewide accountability systems when receiving federal education
funding under the Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA; PL 89-10).
The measure provides that the rule will have no force or effect." Also
according to Congressional Quarterly, "If a disapproval resolution is
enacted, it prevents the rule from going into effect and the agency is
prohibited from ever issuing any substantially similar rule unless
Congress specifically authorizes it." The vote was on the resolution.
The House adopted the resolution by a vote of 234 to 190. The president
later signed the legislation into law. [House Vote 84,
2/7/17; Congressional
Quarterly, 2/3/17;
Congressional Actions, H. J. Res.
57]
The 2015 Re-Write Of No Child Left Behind Left Its Data-Gathering
Requirement And The Idea That Federal Funds Should Provide "Greater
Equity In Education Across A State" While Making The States Create
The Standards. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Congress in
late 2015 reauthorized the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA) by enacting the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; PL
114-95) as a successor to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB; PL
107-110), which most education professionals had considered to be
too inflexible and punitive to low-performing schools. The 2015
reauthorization retained most of the NCLB's data-gathering
requirements regarding student and school performance while adding
additional demographic information to be collected. It also retained
the overarching philosophy that states and local school districts
receiving federal funding must demonstrate that federal funding
helps provide greater equity in education across a state, with
better educational outcomes for low-performing schools and students.
However, it shifted much of the responsibility for determining and
administering education standards to the state and local level;
under the law, states are required to design and implement their own
statewide accountability systems." [Congressional Quarterly,
2/3/17]
In 2016, The Education Department Issued The Rule Based Off Of The
New Law. According to Congressional Quarterly, "The Education
Department in late November 2016 issued final regulations to
implement ESSA provisions regarding accountability and state plans.
The department said the rule is intended to give states the
flexibility to incorporate measures of school quality or student
success that the state determines are most relevant while
maintaining the expectation that states will continue to work to
improve education for all students." [Congressional Quarterly,
2/3/17]
The 2016 Rule Required That States ID Low-Performing Schools Using
A Variety Of Metrics; Graduation Rates And English Language
Proficiency Were Required And The Information Had To Be
Disaggregated By Subgroup. According to Congressional Quarterly,
"Among its elements, the rule requires states to identify
low-performing schools for comprehensive or targeted support and
improvement, and it requires that each state's statewide plan use
multiple indicators of student success that are the same for all
public schools (including charter schools), with the indicators
disaggregated by subgroup. It requires states to measure academic
achievement; graduation rates and academic progress; progress in
attaining English language proficiency; and at least one
state-selected indicator of school quality or student success.
Indicators must emphasize academic performance. States must set
'ambitious' goals and interim measurements of progress for academic
outcomes and provide assurances that they will meet the law's
requirements for academic standards." [Congressional Quarterly,
2/3/17]
Rule Opponents Claimed That The Rule Continued The "Label And
Punish" Policies Of NCLB While Not Effectively Empowering Students,
Parents, Teachers And State And Local Leaders. According to
Congressional Quarterly, "Supporters of the resolution to disapprove
the rule, primarily Republicans, argue that the rule effectively
acts to continue the federal overreach and the 'label and punish'
policies generated by the old No Child Left Behind law while
ignoring the required movement toward empowering students, parents,
teachers, and local and state leaders as mandated by the new Every
Student Succeeds Act. Specifically, they say it would continue the
use of statewide standardized testing as the main determinant of
whether a school is meeting academic standards, thereby undermining
the intent of the new law to provide state and local leaders with
flexibility in identifying and responding to struggling schools."
[Congressional Quarterly,
2/3/17]
Democrats Claim That By Removing The Rule, It Reneged On A
Compromise And Leaves States Without The Necessary Guidance.
According to Congressional Quarterly, "Democrats see Republican
efforts to overturn the regulations as a violation of the compromise
they made when they passed the law in 2015, and they worry that the
lack of regulations will put states in a difficult position as they
finish work on their education plans. 'Without this regulation they
will not know what to do,' said Rep. Robert C. Scott. D-Va., during
the Rules Committee hearing. '[It] leaves everybody in a total
lurch. . . . It's just much better to go through the regulatory
process.'" [Congressional Quarterly,
2/7/17]