Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/994766
A F T E R A L O N G , d raw n - o u t process, it appears a compro- mise between the State Board of Education (SBE) and the federal government on the much- debated Ev e r y S t u d e n t S u c c e e d s A c t (ESSA) may finally pass muster. On April 12, the SBE approved revisions to the plan that outlines the use and management of $2.4 billion in federal assistance to the state's neediest students. Now it's on to the U.S. Department of Edu- cation (ED) for final approval. " T h e r e v i s i o n s i n t h e p l a n maintain the core principles of California's approach t o a c c o u n t a b i l i ty a n d c o n t i n u o u s i m p r o v e m e n t , which is based on the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and ref lects the extensive stakeholder input from the past four years," says Patricia Rucker, CTA's legislative advocate. E v e r y s t a t e t h a t r e c e i v e s funding under ESSA is required to submit a plan to the ED that meets federal requirements. Cal- ifornia, however, experienced a particularly difficult time of it. The first draft of the plan was criticized by one of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' admin- istrators in December. e federal a d m i n i st ra t o r w a s e sp e c i a l ly critical of the California School Dashboard, which uses multicol- ored icons to show performance levels of multiple measures of school success, and questioned its legality. That criti qu e result ed in week s of n egoti ations between the state and federal officials. California's ESSA plan involved a two-year process that received comments from thousands of Californians. The plan affirms the state's commitment to LCFF, its By Dina Martin California's ESSA plan poised to make change Continuous Improvement " Our plan is grounded in the Local Control Funding Formula law, which emphasizes local control, equity, stakeholder engagement, accountability and continuous improvement." — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson 48 cta.org H E A D Teaching & Learning