The Every Student Succeeds Act: States Leading the Way
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S. HRG. 115–848 THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT: STATES LEADING THE WAY HEARING OF THE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON EXAMINING THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT, FOCUSING ON STATES LEADING THE WAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 32–295 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020 VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:54 Sep 17, 2020 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\DOCS\32295.TXT DAVID LIFEBOOK031 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee, Chairman MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming PATTY MURRAY, Washington RICHARD BURR, North Carolina BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania RAND PAUL, Kentucky MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin BILL CASSIDY, M.D., Louisiana CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut TODD YOUNG, Indiana ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah TIM KAINE, Virginia PAT ROBERTS, Kansas MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska TINA SMITH, Minnesota TIM SCOTT, South Carolina DOUG JONES, Alabama DAVID P. CLEARY, Republican Staff Director LINDSEY WARD SEIDMAN, Republican Deputy Staff Director EVAN SCHATZ, Democratic Staff Director JOHN RIGHTER, Democratic Deputy Staff Director (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:54 Sep 17, 2020 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\DOCS\32295.TXT DAVID LIFEBOOK031 with DISTILLER CONTENTS STATEMENTS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 Page COMMITTEE MEMBERS Alexander, Hon. Lamar, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Opening statement ...................................................................... 1 Murray, Hon. Patty, Ranking Member, a U.S. Senator from the State of Washington, Opening statement ......................................................................... 3 WITNESSES Blomstedt, Matthew L., Ph.D., Commissioner, Nebraska Department of Edu- cation, Lincoln, NE .............................................................................................. 6 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8 Bunting, Susan, Ed.D., Secretary, Delaware Department of Education, Dover, DE .......................................................................................................................... 11 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 13 Jeffries, Shavar, President, Democrats for Education Reform, Newark, NJ ...... 16 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 18 Spearman, Molly, Superintendent, South Carolina Department of Education, Columbia, SC ........................................................................................................ 21 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 23 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Statements, articles, publications, letters, etc. Bloomstedt, Matthew: Supporting documentation from the Nebraska Department of Education .. 54-70 Bunting, Susan: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Edu- cation .............................................................................................................. 71-72 Delaware Department of Education, One Percent Waiver Request ............. 73-84 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Response by Matthew Bloomstedt to questions of: Hon. Todd Young .............................................................................................. 85 Hon. Patty Murray ........................................................................................... 87 Hon. Bernard Sanders ...................................................................................... 89 Hon. Elizabeth Warren .................................................................................... 92 Hon. Tim Kaine ................................................................................................ 94 Hon. Maggie Hassan ........................................................................................ 96 Hon. Doug Jones ............................................................................................... 98 Response by Molly Spearman to questions of: Hon. Patty Murray ........................................................................................... 99 Hon. Bernard Sanders ...................................................................................... 102 Hon. Elizabeth Warren .................................................................................... 104 Hon. Tim Kaine ................................................................................................ 106 Hon. Maggie Hassan ........................................................................................ 107 Hon. Doug Jones ............................................................................................... 109 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:54 Sep 17, 2020 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\DOCS\32295.TXT DAVID LIFEBOOK031 with DISTILLER IV Page Response by Shavar Jeffries to questions of: Hon. Patty Murray ........................................................................................... 110 Hon. Bernard Sanders ...................................................................................... 111 Hon. Tim Kaine ................................................................................................ 115 Hon. Doug Jones ............................................................................................... 116 Response by Susan Bunting to questions of: Hon. Patty Murray ........................................................................................... 117 Hon. Bernard Sanders ...................................................................................... 120 Hon. Elizabeth Warren .................................................................................... 122 Hon. Tim Kaine ................................................................................................ 124 Hon. Maggie Hassan ........................................................................................ 125 Hon. Doug Jones ............................................................................................... 127 VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:54 Sep 17, 2020 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\DOCS\32295.TXT DAVID LIFEBOOK031 with DISTILLER THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT: STATES LEADING THE WAY Tuesday, September 25, 2018 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:07 a.m. in room SD–430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Lamar Alexander, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. Present: Senators Alexander [presiding], Cassidy, Young, Scott, Murray, Casey, Bennet, Murphy, Warren, Kaine, Hassan, Smith, and Jones. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ALEXANDER The CHAIRMAN. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order. Senator Murray and I will each have an opening statement. Then I will introduce the witnesses, whom we welcome today. Then we will hear from the witnesses, as I said, and then Senators will each have 5 minutes to ask questions. We have a full house of guests in the audience and I welcome you here. We are glad you are here. This is part of your right as an American citizen. You can expect a vigorous back and forth among the Senators. That is the nature of this Committee. We have different points of view, but I would ask that those in the au- dience respect the rules of the Senate in terms of no applause, or demonstrations, or comments during the hearing. Candace Hines, a kindergarten teacher in Memphis, recently wrote in the Memphis ‘‘Commercial Appeal’’ the following, ‘‘This year, Tennessee schools will begin to implement our state’s new education plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act,’’ which we call ESSA. ‘‘Unlike the previous education law, No Child Left Be- hind, ESSA gives Tennessee more autonomy to design policies to meet the needs of our state’s students,’’ she wrote. ‘‘ESSA empow- ers Tennessee with the responsibility to decide how to close achievement gaps, improve schools, and make sure that all our children succeed.’’ Reaching the point of fixing No Child Left Behind took seven years of congressional efforts, 27 hearings, and a three-day markup in this Committee where we considered 57 amendments. The consensus this Committee reached was this: continue the law’s important measurements of academic progress of students, but restore to states what to do about that progress. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:54 Sep 17, 2020 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\32295.TXT DAVID LIFEBOOK031 with DISTILLER 2 The Every Student Succeeds Act gave Tennessee, in Candace’s words, ‘‘A real opportunity for our state to build on the progress we have made and enact change, especially in traditionally under- served communities.’’ Today, I look forward to hearing how Nebraska, South Carolina, and Delaware are taking advantage of that opportunity. Under ESSA, in order to receive over $18 billion in annual Federal fund- ing, states have the opportunity to design their own state plan that includes setting academic goals