State raises concerns about federal education rules
South Dakota education leaders are concerned proposed federal rules for the law replacing No Child Left Behind won't leave the state enough local control.
The U.S. Department of Education released a draft of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) regulations in May, giving states until Aug. 1 to submit feedback.
South Dakota's Department of Education submitted a four-page document Wednesday responding to the draft and criticizing the rules for "tightening the noose" on a law it says was intended to give states more flexibility.
State Secretary of Education Melody Schopp spoke with Argus Leader Media Thursday to share the highlights of the state's feedback.
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Lack of flexibility, funds
A common theme in the state's feedback is that proposed rules don't provide enough flexibility for states to assess needs in ways that work best for them.
"ESSA was written with the idea that states should be able to write the plans that fit their needs ... We just want to make sure we're honoring that," Schopp said.
Proposed rules limit the state's ability to determine their own approaches for helping schools who are falling behind in addressing student needs, according to the feedback report compiled by a state accountability work group.
They also add spending requirements with which the state cannot keep up without more federal dollars, said Rob Monson, work group member and executive director of School Administrators of South Dakota.
This lack of flexibility also includes rules that don't keep small states in mind, Schopp said.
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No understanding of small state needs
One rule says schools who don't test at least 95 percent of students will be penalized. Under this rule, the state would've had to punish a rural South Dakota school that in 2014-2015 missed the 95 percent mark when two families declined to have their students tested.
"We really need to be able to think about what's appropriate in our state rather than thinking about this one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't fit well in schools with really small districts," Schopp said.
The state's feedback also expresses concerns about funding requirements for schools that need improvement.
Proposed rules say that state education agencies must give at least $500,000 to schools in need of comprehensive support and $50,000 to schools in targeted support.
With South Dakota's education budget, the state's Department of Education could support only roughly six schools under this requirement, according to the feedback report.
'Unreasonable' timeline
Schools won't see South Dakota's final approved plan for implementing ESSA until next spring, Schopp estimated.
But proposed rules would require the state to identify schools that need improvement under ESSA in the 2017-2018 school year. This means the state would have to assess schools on the rules using information from the 2016-2017 school year when schools did not know what the rules were.
"For us to hold schools accountable in the fall when they don't even know what they're being held accountable for is unreasonable," Schopp said.
She also fears the rules will shortchange stakeholder input and limit the state's ability to take its time and find innovative ways to implement the new law.
Too much weight on academics
South Dakota schools are assessed on more than just test scores, Schopp said. The state looks at how they're preparing students for college and their future careers.
Under the proposed ESSA rules, schools would have to give lower priority to what's called "student success and school quality indicators" than other academic measures of success.
"There (are) many other things that we think are important," Schopp said. "And the standardized test scores should not weigh more than what we feel is really important in our message to schools that we really want them to engage in other opportunities for college and career success."
Emphasis on standardized tests was a cornerstone of the former education law, No Child Left Behind, for which South Dakota received a waiver to track progress on the state's own terms.
Next steps
All states will submit feedback to the federal government by Aug. 1, and final regulations will be released later this fall. In the meantime, the South Dakota Department of Education has four work groups helping determine what ESSA will look like in South Dakota.
Follow education watchdog reporter Megan Raposa @mlraposa and on the Learning Curve blog.
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