The Ohio school superintendent plans to hold off on submitting the state’s new education plan to the federal government next month. The move comes the same day that the U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that states would have much more flexibility.
Secretary DeVos and Congress are stripping away many of the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act or ESSA. She dropped one that required the states to take input from stakeholders such as educators and parents.
Coincidentally, Ohio school Superintendent Paolo DeMaria said it was speaking to stakeholders that stopped him from submitting Ohio’s proposal next month, as planned.
“I didn’t want the submission of this template to be a divisive event, and I felt that’s where things sort of stood,” he said.
DeMaria said the Ohio Legislature was also not on board. House Education Committee Chairman Andrew Brenner said the delay is a good idea. Senate Education Chair Peggy Lehner agreed.
“This decision to withhold our application at this time I think is smart, especially since ESSA might go away before we actually do it," Lehner said.
The state will submit its ESSA plan in September.
