Federal legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 has come under fire from Virginia’s Legislative Black Caucus and a coalition of national and state civil rights organizations.
The groups assert that both the U.S. House and Senate versions of the reauthorization fail to adequately protect vulnerable student populations.
The coalition says both bills roll back the civil rights protections codified in the original law in the wake of the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. But it says the Senate version could be redeemed. According to the U.S. Senate’s education committee, the Every Child Achieves Act includes strengthening state and local control over schools—and requiring states to design accountability systems within certain parameters but without federal interference. Scott Simpson with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights says the bill is weak and needs “four fixes.”
“The ESEA must hold schools and districts accountable when they leave vulnerable students behind. We’re standing together because ESEA must provide the transparency and data that families and communities need to advocate for their children. We’re standing together because the reauthorization must require that states intervene to correct the massive resource disparities that plague our nation’s schools. And we’re standing together because we must have proper oversight from the Department of Education to make sure that federal funds are used to protect vulnerable students.”
Simpson and others oppose passage of any reauthorization without those amendments.
The U.S. Senate is deliberating the “Every Child Achieves Act” this week.