Congress approved and the President signed the government spending bill for fiscal year (FY) 2018 on Friday. The bill includes large increases for education which is a huge departure from the President’s budget submitted to Congress in early 2017.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post obtained a leaked version of President Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2018 education budget proposal. Set to be officially released next week, the proposal would, among other items, significantly reduce investments in skills training and adult basic literacy and eliminate ed tech investments under ESSA’s Title IV. The proposal would shift some of those funds to new investments in school choice, including expanding charting schools and vouchers for private and religious schools. more

I had the opportunity to join Larry Jacobs this morning on Education Talk Radio for a conversation on federal education policy. We talked about the Trump education budget proposal, the goings on at the US Department of Education, and what the Every Student Succeeds Act really means for states and schools.

The new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and its authors have been clear since the law’s passage that greater autonomy in decision-making must be given to the states and local education agencies. Today the U.S. Department of Education announced that, in addition to its current negotiated rulemaking session, it will only begin regulatory processes in three more areas of the new law this year: 1.       State accountability systems and reporting

The U.S. Department of Education is in the early stages of developing regulations for implementing the new Every Student Succeeds Act. As part of this process, the Department will convene a committee of stakeholders to develop negotiated rules on key pieces of the law, including assessments and supplement, not supplant rules.

In response to a request for advice and recommendations for proposed regulations to implement programs under Title I of the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), SIIA submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Education with recommendations intended to encourage innovation from the ground up.