In response to guidance released by the U.S. Department of Education (USED), TransACT has updated documents in its ESSA ParentNotices Collection in two content categories:

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) recently issued new regulations for the federal grant program,Charter School Grant Program (CSGP), that include significant changes to what was originally proposed by the USED.

Background

In March of 2021, the U.S Congress passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, providing an additional $122 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding. This funding, coupled with the CARES Act (passed March 2020) and CRRSA Act (passed December 2020) ESSER funds brings the total ESSER funding to about $190 billion to help education agencies at the state and local level address the educational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

States, school districts, and schools have significant flexibility in spending federal COVID relief funds announced last spring.   

A lot of competition exists for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. There are many questions on how best to use these funds to support students and educators. One area where the use of these funds is especially urgent is student mental health. 

By David Holbrook, Keja Whiteman, with contributions from Jenn Runs Close To Lodge 

As part of our commitment to provide school district administrators with resources and guidance on federal program compliance and administration, we regularly publish blogs featuring guest writers. We are honored to feature a co-written article between TransACT Executive Director of Federal Programs and State Relationships, Dr. Holbrook, and his colleague Keja Nokomis Whiteman of KW Consultants LLC, with contributions from middle school educator Jenn Runs Close To Lodge. 

The Tennessee Rules of the State Board of Education, Chapter 0520-01-19 English as a Second Language Programs outlines significant state-level requirements related to English Learner students (ELs).

Every year, in order to inform the U.S. Congress of the presidential administration’s priorities, the White House releases a proposed budget for the next fiscal year (FY). The U.S. Congress is the legislative body that creates the federal law that designates the amount of funding available for the federal government and can confirm or ignore the White House’s proposed budget.

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) has sent out a letter to Chief State School Officers (state education leaders) with information related to the 2020-2021 school year concerning the following issues:

On February 2, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order requiring government agencies to conduct an immediate review of changes made to the Public Charge rules made by the previous administration.