President Obama Changes “No Child Left Behind” Act

After more than a decade of national debate and public backlash over the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, President Barack Obama signed a bill on Thursday that drastically scales back the federal government’s role in the US public school system. The new law had wide bipartisan support in Congress.

ESSA shifts much of the oversight and responsibility for schools from the federal government to the state – including how accountability is determined and how to define and improve low performing schools.

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, following a signing ceremony for legislation that changes how the nation’s public schools are evaluated, rewriting the landmark No Child Left Behind education law of 2002. It does seem as though Every Student Succeeds will continue to flag underperforming schools, such as those with high dropout rates or where a certain section of the student population is struggling.

National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García applauded ESSA, saying, “For the first time since No Child Left Behind was enacted almost 14 years ago, ESSA empowers educators as trusted professionals to make school and classroom decisions while keeping the focus on students most in need”, according to The Associated Press.

Even though NCLB has been praised for addressing equal opportunity education, it also drew criticism from parents, students, and teachers alike over claims that it promoted a “test-and-punish era”. The states are now expected to establish their own standards for determining school quality, permitting local education officials to use other factors in the status of their schools.

Now school goals, achievement and progress will all be calculated and measured by each state. That data will still have to be reported publicly and parsed for income level, race, disability and English-language learning. Goals and timelines for academic progress must be approved by the U.S. Department of Education.