Public Meetings for the Every Student Succeeds Act Start Tuesday, August 9

Here’s your chance to weigh in with state department of education officials about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA is the new federal law replacing No Child Left Behind.

Malissa Valdes-Hubert, Public Information Manager for the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE), spent a few minutes with me this afternoon explaining the purpose of the meetings and why you should make the time to attend. Click anywhere on SoundCloud link to begin the interview.

All meetings run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with the last half-hour reserved for questions and answers.

Here’s the full schedule:

• Tuesday, August 9 – Montgomery County Schools – Carver High School 2001 W. Fairview Ave., Montgomery, AL 36108
• Tuesday, August 16 – Auburn City Schools – Auburn High School Performing Arts Center 405 S. Dean Road, Auburn, AL 36830
• Thursday, August 18 – Shelby County Schools – Helena High School 1310 Hillsboro Parkway, Helena, AL 35080
• Tuesday, August 23 – Birmingham City Schools – Parker High School 400 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd., Birmingham, AL, 35204
• Thursday, August 25 – Mobile County Schools – Davidson High School 3900 Pleasant Valley Road, Mobile, AL 36609
• Tuesday, September 6 – Huntsville City Schools – The Academy for Academics and Arts 4800 Sparkman Drive NW, Huntsville, AL 35810
• Thursday, September 13 – Tuscaloosa City Schools – Tuscaloosa Career & Technology Academy 2800 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

Both the ALSDE and the Governor’s office are keeping ESSA web pages. Here’s the ALSDE’s web page. Here’s the Governor’s web page.

And here’s a presentation given to Alabama’s educators about ESSA.

The Governor’s ESSA implementation committee will submit their report to the state board of education not later than January 19, 2017.

State education officials, in conjunction with parents and families, educators, advocacy groups, civil rights groups, and anyone else who has an interest in public education, will develop a plan to submit for approval to the federal government not later than next summer.

Federal law requires state education officials to gather input from a wide variety of stakeholders and incorporate that input into the final plan. Plans will become effective

The public can also submit comments via the Governor’s web site at this link.