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Council Proposes Streamlined ESEA

The Council of the Great City Schools has proposed a streamlined version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act  (ESEA) for congressional reauthorization that would accelerate the pace of achievement for children with specific disadvantages and special needs.

The coalition's proposals also call for capacity building in the neediest American school systems, designed to advance achievement through increased flexibility, and a refocus of school reform from the state to the local school-district and classroom levels.

``These new proposals are designed to accelerate achievement gains in urban schools by boosting local school capacity to meet rising standards, by expanding local decision making, and by spurring accountability for results," says Council Executive Director Michael Casserly.

The urban school proposal would first retain the categorical approach in ESEA for improving education for children with special educational needs, such as those who are disadvantaged, racially -isolated, immigrant, and English-language learners.

The proposal would also substantially restructure ESEA to permit local school systems to shift resources within two new areas designed to boost local capacity for speeding achievement gains and to meet areas of national priority. Recommendations also call for allocating federal funding directly to the school-district level to improve efficiency and ensure greater emphasis on classroom instruction.

The capacity-building and problem-solving provisions of the new proposal would consolidate 29 existing programs into a series of more flexible activities, substantially streamlining current local operations and permitting schools to focus on results.

In addition, the new ESEA proposals would substantially overhaul the current bilingual education program by refocusing the effort on the attainment by English-language learners of high academic standards in all content areas, and by moving away from the current emphasis on federally encouraged teaching methods and time limits for participation in favor of community discretion.

Finally, the proposals substantially revamp the research functions of the U.S. Department of Education by providing each division its own research and evaluation funding to assess the progress of their respective programs and by providing funds for local selection of technical assistance.

New Titles Proposed  

For the reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the new proposals recommend:

•Strengthening accountability in Title I by authorizing each Superintendent of Schools to assign a Title I Monitor to ensure results in chronically under-achieving schools and requiring that achievement data be reported for all groups to ensure that no child is left behind.

•Encouraging local school systems to establish their own academic standards and annual yearly progress goals toward those standards when they are higher than minimum state requirements.

•Establishing two new titles for (1) improving the capacity of state and local schools systems to accelerate achievement through better professional development and flexibility (Title II); and (2) solving high-priority national education challenges, such as reducing class-size, expanding after-school services and improving technology (Title III). 

•Including in the new Title II a program to support the local costs of securing technical assistance and research for school reform and improvement.

•Authorizing a new secondary school reform demonstration program in Title III to address the lack of information on middle and high school best practices.

•Reorienting bilingual education toward the attainment of high academic standards in all content areas for English-language learners through locally designed programs.

•Emphasizing closing of achievement gaps among diverse groups of students in the Magnet School Assistance Act. 

The Council's proposed restructuring also calls for the establishment of a new state role in ESEA and for the reauthorization of the school infrastructure grant program, the rural education program and the revision of the urban education program.260