A Call to Action

In 2016 the federal government got rid of the federal education law known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and replaced it with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The state of Ohio can now change many of the laws associated with NCLB and give learning and testing decisions back to the states and even local districts. The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) had many meetings across the state to hear from people about how the new state plan should look. The biggest thing they heard was to reduce the amount of state testing that is not required by the Feds. However, as usual, they are not listening. The plan from ODE does not in any way reduce the testing in the state. I urge everyone who reads this to go to http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Every-Student-Succeeds-Act-ESSA/ESSA_Framework_Report.pdf.aspx to read their plan and then comment here at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ESSAOhioOverview and tell them that Ohio needs to follow the minimum requirements set forth by the ESSA. I also urge everyone to call Representative Dorothy Pelanda at  (614) 466-8147  and Senator Dave Burke at (614) 466-8049  and tell them that Ohio needs to follow the ESSA minimum regulations. This is a golden opportunity to get local control back into our schools.