Succeeds act, the 2015 law that change the way the federal department of education oversees state boards of education and local School Districts. The House Education Committee held a hearing. The committee on Education Workforce will come to order. Good morning and welcome to todays full committee hearing. I think our panel of witnesses and are Committee Members for joining todays discussion on the application of the every Student Succeeds act, essa. Essa can be considered a milestone for k12 policy because of the monumental shift in the role states and School Districts would have in the future of education. Essa sought to achieve to specific goal for k12 education, autonomy and accountability. State and School District were given independence when creating a k12 Education Program that works best for the own students, ending a washington knows best approach to education. Additionally, essa specifically prohibited the federal government from influencing states adoption of particular standards. It also repealed federal mandates for teacher performance and protected a states right to opt out a federal Education Programs. Part of the gopher state and School District economy was to force washington to remain at arms length from states and School Districts when it comes to education, and rest assured that this committee will be watching to ensure that washington keeps its distance. While states and school day six were given more autonomy in essa, the law maintains provisions ensuring parents have transparent information about School Performance and states and districts can hold schools accountable for delivering a high quality education to all students. Essa also included unprecedented restrictions on the department of educations authority to take back the state and local flexibility guaranteed by the law. Essa has stripped away powers of the department of education, such as of the build of the secretary of education to legislate through executive fiat, or the ability of the departments bureaucrats to substitute their judgment for states. History made it clear that a topdown approach to k12 education did not serve students, teachers, parents, or the states well, and essa directly addressed these shortcomings. Given the monumental shift in education policy represented by essa, its important that we here have implementation is progressing. We know the law will not fully take effect until the coming school year, and we will need time to assess its impact on schools and students. However, i look forward to hearing from todays witnesses about the progress states, School Districts and the department of education are making. This committee has been keeping a close eye on this implementation process. Last year we help for hearings on documentation of essa. Today we will continue our discussion on the implementation. Essa was truly a change for k12 education, and i do believe this bipartisan law delivers the proper balance of autonomy and accountability to parents and taxpayers, while ensuring a limited federal role. This law has the ability to empower state and local leaders to change k12 education or the better, and that is why it is of utmost importance to this committee. I look for to hearing from our witnesses and members during todays hearing. With that i yield to Ranking Member scott for his opening remarks. Thank you, madam chair for convening this mornings hearing on implementation of every Student Succeeds act. Id like to thank our witnesses for appearing today and i look forward to hearing the testimony. It is regrettable, madam chair, we are not Hearing Department of education, particularly considering media reports of the majorities intention to critique its implementation of essa during todays proceedings. I know i for one would greatly benefit from an open dialogue with the department on essa implementation effort other matters. Chairwoman foxx can remember i sent you a letter urging secretary devos and other agency heads to appear before the committee to discuss the administrations priority. The request has not been fulfilled said like to take the opportunity again to ask secretary devos or any other representative from the department who can discuss the Administration Priorities to appear to engage in an open dialogue with this committee. Essa have been the law of the land for nearly 20 months. Why that may seem like a long time and a long cycle of the law is consequential as the elementary and secondary education act which passed over 50 years ago. Its really just the beginning. States are only now undergoing review of plant approval process followed by months of work amidst chaotic regulatory environment. As i said this in federal in march but it bears repeating when congress use the cra to block the regulation of title i score requirements, and that was unfortunate encounter to the bipartisan agreement in essa but this body and go forward with the cra and now thats the reality that we have to work with. That lack of regulation means increase subjectivity determining compliance of the laws requirements which makes oversight actions of this Committee Even more important. This increase subjectivity without the clarifying regulations is apparent and the departments early feedback on state plans that were submitted in may during the may submission window. Some plan components were praise by peer reviews and one states plan at the same conference were questions as insufficient than another. All the while other violations of essa echoed requirements were overlooked by the department completely. Madam chair, im disappointed that the media description of the reaction from some of our colleagues in the majority have characterized the Education Department of state feedback plans as overreach. The difference between overreach and simply administering the program. We need to remember that essa was not a blank check for states and districts, and while the afforded states and districts much flexibility, that flexibility most occur within the law. Including guardrails concerning the assessment as county assessments to ascertain achieving caps and accountability to close those achievement gaps. Congress designed the law guardrails to protect the interest of the underserved students. The law contained a board requirements. Requirements republicans or democrats all agree to when we voted and those requirements must be meaningful. Essa is not and never has been a freeforall. It is the responsibility of the department as articulated by congress to carefully scrutinize the quality of state plans and only approve those that meet the laws requirements. Even without regulations the law is of the law, if the law requires the secretary to review the plans, ask hard questions, and if necessary disapprove the plans in the interest of the students. And while as a just mentioned some of the content our overall inconsistency the Department Feedback may be problematic, i do not come in out of a should take issue with the department attempting to do its job. Feedback must be more, not less consistent and more, not less vigorous. Ultimately the feedback exhibition plans must result in approval only the plans that meet the spirit and the letter law. As we will hear today many state plans leave much to be desired either due to ambiguity or incompleteness and response or due to plan components that violate the laws agouti requirements. Its equity. Its my hope the department will work with states to provisions and Technical Assistance to improve the overall quality of the state plans and ensure implementation that honors of the long civil rights focus of the essa. Now, such supplementation is only possible with the support a partnership of the federal government. Its not only for the role of the department to support and monitor efforts to comply with a lot but its also the role of congress to fund the programs authorized by essa. Despite promises to implement the law as congress intended, secretary devos and President Trump repose elimination of bedrock essa programs like title to a to support teachers, 21st Century Learning Center sues were afterschool programs, and cuts to other programs including an effective cut of nearly 600 million in title i. That is white House Majority fiscal year 18 appropriation bill is esther cohen as the president s request. Fails to honor the bipartisan essa agreement by eliminating title ii cutting afterschool programs and maintaining an effective cut to title i. Elimination of title to a would result in thousands of layoffs and inhibit local and state efforts to improve teacher professional School Leaders supports. Defining this program most certainly does not align with the bipartisan intent of the authorizing statute. Lastly, trumpcare proposed cuts to medicaid if enacted would devastate services for students with disabilities and donovan state and local efforts to educate all students to live standards as required by essa. In the situation would be even worse if the most recent repeal without a replace plan is enacted. Now, how effective cant implementation be without funding . I know all too often state and local education agencies face capacity challenges. I hope to hear from todays witnesses about the negative impact of underfunding essa programs. In closing i remain concerned that many of the actions of secretary devos and this administration concerning our nation students. For example, the recent rhetoric from the office of civil rights and offices directed to ignore systemic data on investing come with investigate alleged civil rights violations. A lack of Agency Capacity to carry out key components of the department, including the absence of deputy secretaries. The rollback of protections for student borrowers, the rescinding of protections for transgender students, the sledgehammer like approach to deregulation without transparency of decisionmaking of the department, and the decision to cancel a Grant Program to award 12 million to localities to provide Technical Assistance to open desegregate their schools. All of these actions portray troubling pattern that undermines the federal governments Important Role to protect and promote civil rights of all students. This pattern must not continue with essa implementation. I say that not out of Wishful Thinking or partisan spin but because its what is in the law that we enacted and that needs to be enforced. Essa is clear. It is of the responsible of the department to review and provide feedback on state plans, make determinations of approvals or disapproval based on compliance with the statute, and partner including through enforcement activities with states and School Districts to support the loss implementation moving forward. It is the responsibility of states and districts to innovate within the guardrails of essas equity requirements as the midbeen a change in administration at the law is the law and the federal is clear. I hope this committee commits to a robust oversight of essa of limitation moving forward to ensure that it is responsibly fulfilled. Thank you, madam chair. I yield back. Thanthank you, mr. Scott. Pursuant to committee rules, all members will be permitted to submit written statements to be included in the probe hearing record. Without objection to hearing record will remain open for 14 days to allow such statements and other extraneous material referenced during the hearing to be submitted for the official hearing record. I now turn to introductions of our distinguished witnesses. This Jacqueline Nowicki as a director of k12 education for the u. S. Department of u. S. Government accountability office. Ms. Pletnick as a superintendent in surprise arizona. Phillip lovell as Vice President policy development and Government Relations at the alliance for excellent education. Kerry wright is a superintendent of education for mississippi. I never ask eyewitnesses to raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth . Let the record reflect the witnesses answered in the affirmative. Before i recognized each of you to provide your testimony, let me briefly explain our lighting system. We allow five minutes for each witness to provide testimony. When you begin the light in front of you will turn green. When one man is let the light will turn yellow. At the fiveminute mark the light will turn red and you should wrap up your testimony. Members will each have five minutes to ask questions. I now recognize ms. Nowicki for five minutes. Good morning, chairwoman foxx, Ranking Member scott, and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss gaos new report on early observations on state accountability systems under essa. As you will no essa require states to unaccountably systems that meet certain requirements but grant state flexibly designing the systems. We focus our work on four areas of state accountability systems. One, determining longterm goals, developing Performance Indicators, differentiating schools, and identifying and assisting low performers. We did so because groups identify these as key components of accountability systems under essa and are areas in which data making changes. My remarks he will focus on two key areas, first i will discuss stakeholder views on essas flexibly to resign accountability systems. Second i will discuss next steps for the department of education in implementing essa. In regards to my first point all my National Stakeholder groups with whom we spoke saw essa accountability provisions a somewhat flexible. For example, most of them praise the ability to define their own Performance Indicators. Most stakeholders also indicated essa strikes a good balance. For example, when stickel said they thread the new very well between offering flexibility to Design Systems that meet state needs and requiring states to protect vulnerable populations. The extent to which states are changing their current systems very. Some states are pleased with the system they developed under their waivers and are continuing down that path. But for states tha its either current systems as lacking in some way or when stakeholder consultation highlighted the need for significant change, we were told that essa provides room for states to consider innovative provisions. Our report provides many examples of how to states, ohio and california, are tailoring their account the systems of each of the four areas ive mentioned. Id like to highlight one example. To address the requirements that differentiating schools, ohio plans to tweak it six current indicators to assess school and student performance. Some of these indicators would measure current performance while others would measure growth. Schools would receive a letter grade on each indicator as well as an overall letter grade. While officials felt this approach would provide detailed information on various elements of their performance system as well as provide an easily understandable highlevel overview of performance. California, the plainest hes a colorcoded dashboard to differentiate school and students performance on each six indicators for each indicator when measure current performance as well as growth over time. Unlike ohio, california does not plan to aggregate the indicators into an overall score. State officials said they chose not to aggregate because they feel doing so can mask individual problem areas. They also told us measuring current performance and growth for each indicator provides a more complete picture of performance. With regard to my second point, given current timelines of the department of education remains focus on providing assistance to states in developing their plans and on the review and approval process for plans. Moving forward, a key next step in essa application is for the department to develop an diplomate state monitoring protocols pick also trapped particles were not available at the time of our review, education official said that they plan to pilot protocols with eight or nine states in early 2018. The Department Goal is to review all states with within a three to four year cycle. Education officials told us they are considering whether there is a need for Additional Guidance for states. During our review most National Stakeholder groups told us states could use guidance on a number of issues such as how to identify and evaluate appropriate evidencebased intervention. In closing, i hope our early observations shine some light on how states are thinking about their accountability systems in the context of essas flexibility. Essa implementation still in the early days and much work lies ahead for both states and the department of education before the promise of essa can be fully realized. We look forward to working with you to support your efforts to oversee implementation of this important law. This completes my prepared remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, ms. Nowicki. Dr. Pletnick, you are recognized for five minutes. [inaudible] would you turn on your microphone, please . Thank you. Chairman foxx, Ranking Member scott, makers of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to join you today. I am the superintendent of the dysart School Dist