February 22, 2017 The Skanner Page 9
News
Republican Lawmakers Attack Obama’s Education Law
As Educators Work to Improve ESSA, Republicans Vote to Weaken the Law
states the timeline for ad-
dressing underperform-
ing schools, how schools
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire
Contributor
W
SHOWTIMES
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
ithout hesita-
tion, Jill Lauren
said that the
most
critical
program that should be
included under the Ev-
ery Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA) is proper reading
instruction beginning in
kindergarten.
“We know that chil-
dren learn to read by
using either a whole
language or phonics ap-
proach. Some kids seem
to pick up reading, as if
by magic, while others
need every sound and
syllable rule explicitly
taught,” said Lauren, who
holds a bachelor’s of sci-
ence and master’s degree
in learning disabilities
from Northwestern Uni-
versity.
Known as an expert
in reading and writing,
Lauren has trained teach-
ers around the country
to utilize a variety of
structured, multi-senso-
ry approaches to the in-
struction of reading and
written language.
“Teachers of pre-K
to [third grade] need to
know how to teach both
methodologies of read-
ing instruction,” said
Lauren. “Every child en-
tering third grade should
be reading on grade lev-
el, meaning we have four
years to properly teach
kids how to read.”
Lauren
continued:
“Without the essential
skill of reading on grade
level, the rest of a child’s
school years will be
troubled, and statistics
show that most youth of-
fenders, as well as adult
inmates, struggle with
literacy. This education-
al failing is a national
tragedy.”
Lauren’s
concerns
come as Education Week
reported a push by Re-
publicans in Congress to
overturn accountabili-
ty regulations for ESSA
could have far-reaching
consequences for how
the law works in states,
and the potential end of
the much-contested rules
is dividing the education
community.
Groups supporting the
move argue that it would
free schools from unnec-
essary burdens, while
opponents contend that
overturning the rules
could hurt vulnerable
students and create tur-
moil in states and dis-
tricts trying to finalize
their transition to ESSA,
the 2015 law that re-
placed the No Child Left
Behind Act.
The National Newspa-
per Publishers Associa-
must be rated, the ways
English-language learn-
ers must be considered
The House of Representatives recently approved a joint resolution
that would overturn ESSA accountability rules issued by the
Obama administration. In this photo, Speaker of the House Paul
Ryan (R-Wisc.) takes his oath of office following his election as
Speaker on October 29, 2015.
tion (NNPA), comprised
of 211 African Ameri-
can-owned media com-
panies and newspapers,
recently received a $1.5
million grant from the
Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation to support a
three-year, multi-media
public awareness cam-
paign focusing on the
unique
opportunities
and challenges of ESSA.
Bridging the academ-
ic achievement gap in
education K-12 for Afri-
can-American students
and others from disad-
vantaged communities
is of critical importance
over the next several
years, said Dr. Benjamin
F. Chavis, Jr., the pres-
ident and CEO of the
NNPA.
“The ESSA law was es-
tablished to help increase
the effectiveness of pub-
lic education in every
state,” said Chavis. “Our
task is to inform, inspire,
and encourage parents,
students, teachers, and
administrators to fulfill
the intent and objectives
of ESSA with special fo-
cus on those students
and communities that
have been marginalized
and underserved by the
education system across
the nation.”
Under ESSA, states will
adhere to more flexible
federal regulations that
provide for improved el-
ementary and secondary
education in the nation’s
public schools.
ESSA, which also reau-
thorizes the Elementary
and Secondary Educa-
tion Act (ESEA), received
bipartisan support and
was signed into law by
President Barack Obama
on December 10, 2015.
The regulations are ad-
ministered by the U.S. De-
partment of Education
and ESSA goes into full
effect at the beginning of
the 2017-2018 school year.
Last week, the House
of
Representatives
approved a joint res-
olution
that
would
overturn ESSA account-
ability rules issued by
the Obama administra-
tion.
Those rules, which be-
came final in November,
are intended to detail for
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