State Education Department Announces Proposed Changes to Every Student Succeeds Act Regulations
The New York State Education Department proposed changes to regulations to implement the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced today. The proposed changes reflect stakeholder input and public feedback and will be presented to the Board of Regents at Monday’s meeting. If the Board acts on the proposed changes at its September meeting, the public comment period on the proposed changes will begin October 3.
“The Regents and I greatly appreciate the thoughtful feedback we received from the public and the education community on the State’s ESSA plan,” Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa said. “We are working to ensure success for all New York’s children regardless of where they live or where they go to school. These proposed changes are an important step toward full implementation of ESSA in New York, but the work doesn’t stop there. We will continue to seek feedback and refine the plan to best meet the needs of all students.”
“Paramount to any good public policy is engagement with stakeholders,” Commissioner Elia said. “Following a thoughtful and productive discussion and considering the comments received, I am confident these changes will benefit students across the state. ESSA fosters educational equity by providing support to districts and schools as they work to ensure that every student succeeds. When paired with the work we have already put in, these amendments will move us even closer to meeting that goal.”
In May, NYSED proposed regulations for implementing New York’s approved ESSA plan and accepted public comment through August 2018. The Department received approximately 1,900 comments in response to the draft regulations. A majority of the comments received focused on the requirements in the proposed regulations related to student participation in the state assessments.