Every Student Succeeds ACT (ESSA) Implementation
Adopted at the 84th Annual Meeting in 2016
WHEREAS, Congress reached bipartisan agreement and President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law on December 10, 2015 to reauthorize the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965; and
WHEREAS, the new national education law sets high standards and reaffirms a longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all K-12 students preparing for success in college or the workforce; and
WHEREAS, ESSA enables state and local education agencies to develop, refine, and replicate innovative reforms that seek to close the achievement gap; and
WHEREAS, the legislation targets federal resources toward students attending schools most in need of assistance and promotes equity in state and local funding; and
WHEREAS, ESSA expands access to high-quality preschool for children from low- and moderate-income families; and
WHEREAS, it maintains rigorous accountability standards that allow for the use of multiple measures of student achievement alongside other indicators of student success in conjunction with statewide standardized assessments; and
WHEREAS, Acting Secretary of Education John King, Jr. has put forth guidance for state and local education agencies on transitioning from the ESEA, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) to the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors thanks Chairman Lamar Alexander, Chairman John Kline, Ranking Member Patty Murray, and Ranking Member Bobby Scott for their leadership on this bipartisan effort; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors commends Secretary King and the Administration for the swift implementation of the Every Student Success Act (ESSA), in preparation for full enactment of the legislation in advance of the 2017-2018 school year, to ensure that mayors and local educators and administrators in cities across the country are prepared for programmatic changes and new requirements.