On Wednesday, March 22^nd, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) hosted a webinar for State Education Agencies (SEAs) related to issues of submission of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plans and Peer Review of those plans once submitted. While an ESSA State Plan, if consolidated, should include nine ESSA programs, only three ESSA programs will receive peer review. Those that will receive peer review are:

President Trump’s budget proposal made a big splash by proposing to eliminate funding for some major ESSA programs. The proposal to eliminate the teacher development program under Title II and Title IV, Part B - 21^st Century Community Learning Centers received the most attention.

In early January, Governor Jerry Brown of California unveiled the state’s $122.5 billion budget for 2017-2018. The budget projects a $1.6 billion deficit, which will be addressed in part by rollbacks of previously planned K-12 education funding increases. California will reduce increases to the minimum level allowed by California’s Proposition 98, which guarantees a certain level of funding based on population and personal income growth in the state.

The U.S. Senate recently voted to approve two resolutions to rescind education regulations. The resolution to rescind the Teacher Preparation regulations was the first to be approved. Those regulations relate to requirements for college and university teacher preparation programs. Later in the week the Senate voted to approve the resolution to rescind the regulations for Accountability and State Plans. The U.S. House passed similar resolutions earlier in the year.

As promised, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) issued an updated template for ESSA State Plans. The document “Revised State Template for the Consolidated State Plan” was posted on March 13, 2017. The updated template follows closely on the heels of the U.S. Senate vote to rescind the regulations for Accountability and State Plans.

The National Council of State Title III Directors announced the opening of registration for its annual national meetings. The meetings this year will be held in the Los Angeles area at the Garland Hotel in North Hollywood. The day and a half of meetings will begin with State and school district administrators meeting for a full day and will be followed by a half day of meetings jointly with the Council of Great City Schools Bilingual Directors.

On Tuesday, February 28th, President Donald Trump gave his first speech to Congress. The lengthy speech included a brief mention of education. He called education “the Civil Rights issue of our time” and asked Congress to pass a bill to fund school choice.

On Tuesday, February 28^th, the U.S. Senate introduced Joint Resolution 25,
which if approved, would result in the ESSA regulations for accountability and state plans being rescinded. Earlier, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a “Resolution of Disapproval” for these regulations.