[Vision2020] 7-28-17: "Top Democrats to Betsy DeVos: Your New Plan for ESSA Review Violates the Law"

[Ted Moffett]

The "Honorable Betsy DeVos?"  Recall the "honor" in stating some schools
might need guns to ward off grizzly bears, when the Wyoming school in
question has a no guns policy:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/18/betsy-devos/education-nominee-betsy-devos-says-wyoming-school-/
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The full letter to Secretary of Education DeVos from Sen. Murray and Rep.
Scott is on the following website:
http://
blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/07/top_democrats_devos_essa_review_violates_law.html?cmp=eml-eb-popweek+08042017&M=58138298&U=241147Top
Democrats to Betsy DeVos: Your New Plan for ESSA Review Violates the Law
By Andrew Ujifusa <https://twitter.com/andrewujifusa> on July 28, 2017 5:26
PM

The top two Democrats for education in Congress have warned U.S. Secretary
of Education Betsy DeVos that her department's new approach to reviewing
states' Every Student Succeeds Act plans is riddled with problems
<http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/072817%20-%20Murray-Scott-DeVos%20ESSA%20Review%20Process.pdf>
.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., the ranking
Democrats on the respective Senate and House education committees, wrote in
a Friday letter to DeVos that the U.S. Department of Education's plans to
begin conducting two-hour phone calls with states about their ESSA plans
before providing states with formal comments will "limit the public's
knowledge" about ESSA-related agreements between states and the department.

"We are deeply concerned that this decision will result in inconsistent
treatment of state agencies, leading to flawed implementation of our
nation's education law and harm to our nation's most vulnerable students,"
Murray and Scott wrote.

The two lawmakers also say that the revised approach to ESSA violates the
section of the law that deals with state plans. This appears to be a
reference to the section of ESSA that states the following:

(5) PUBLIC REVIEW.-- All written communications, feedback, and
notifications under this subsection shall be conducted in a manner that is
transparent and immediately made available to the public on the
Department's website, including-- (A) plans submitted or resubmitted by a
State; (B) peer-review guidance, notes, and comments and the names of the
peer reviewers (once the peer reviewers have completed their work); (C)
State plan determinations by the Secretary, including approvals or
disapprovals; and (D) notices and transcripts of hearings under this
section.

In the letter, Murray and Scott ask DeVos to justify this change in policy,
as well as communications with Congress and others concerning it.

As we reported on Thursday
<http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/07/ed_dept_changing_process_for_e.html>,
the department has decided to hold these phone calls so that state leaders
can explain any hiccups or potential problems with their plans. These
issues, in turn, may not subsequently come up in the department's official
letters to states about their plans. The new approach "is intended to
provide an informal opportunity to address any potential concerns,"
Elizabeth Hill, the department's press secretary, said in a statement.

But this raises questions about the states that have already received
feedback from the department without this chance to discuss them over the
phone with federal officials first. And it's unclear whether reporters,
advocates, and the general public would have access to what's said on those
calls. DeVos' team has already taken a fair bit of heat for how it's
handled state ESSA plans.

Citing DeVos' stated commitment to ensure states have "clarity" as they
shift to ESSA, Murray and Scott told DeVos in the letter that, "Changing
the rules after the process is already well underway does just the
opposite. Doing so is unfair to state agencies and imposes a highly
subjective standard in plan review."

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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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