LaPrade appointed to state education commission

An Enterprise man has been appointed to the state commission charged with implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act in Alabama.

Area state school board member Betty Peters appointed Coffee County School Board member Shag LaPrade to the 20-member board.

The state’s commission recently held an organizational meeting in Montgomery and LaPrade brought his report back to those attending the Coffee County Republican Committee meeting.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a law passed in December 2015 that governs the public education policy in the United States. The act passed both chambers of Congress with strong bipartisan support.

ESSA is designed to replace the No Child left behind Act and it modifies—but not replaces—provisions relating to the periodic standardized tests given to students. ESSA is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act from 1965.

“ESSA represents a shift from broad federal oversight of primary and secondary education to greater flexibility and decision making at the state and local levels,” LaPrade said. The implementation of the four years begins July 1, 2017.

ESSA is the first act to narrow the federal government's role in elementary and secondary education since the 1980s. In fact, the new law bans the federal government from mandating academic standards, assessment and curricula, specifically including the Common Core State Standards, as a condition for receiving federal grants or waivers, LaPrade explained.

ESSA states that the federal government cannot mandate any curriculum or program that ESSA does not fund. In addition, no funds from the act can be used to endorse, develop or require any particular curriculum including the Common Core, LaPrade said. “This means a state may choose to use the Common Core State Standards but the federal government cannot force or entice a state into using them.”

The ESSA retains the annual standardized testing requirements of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act but shifts the law's federal accountability provisions to states. Under the new law, students will continue to take annual math and English language arts tests between third and eighth grade and once in high school. Science testing will be conducted once each in elementary, middle and high school.

ESSA says that states may enact their own opt out laws and local districts or the state will decide consequences for schools or districts that fail to reach the testing bench marks set by the states.

The ESSA specifically limits federal intrusion in local school administration, including the development of budgets, according to LaPrade. It does require local school board input in federal rulemaking in areas to include testing and accountability.

The ESSA, in a nutshell, addresses state education accountability, student testing requirements, intervention in low-performing schools, teacher evaluation and grant reauthorization. “States are allowed to pick their own goals, both long- and short-term,” LaPrade said.

LaPrade said he is seeking and encouraging public input into the ESSA and is available to answer questions. LaPrade can be contacted at [email protected].