Another new education law: ESSA replaces NCLB

Guests: Alyson Klein, David Kirp, Conor Williams

In a rare show of bipartisanship last week, Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to replace No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the often criticized, unpopular education law enacted during 15 years ago during the Bush administration. The new law marks an end to the era when schools were designated as successes or failures based on their students’ test scores. It also gives states more say in education policy, reversing the trend of increased control by the federal government in K-12 education. Today on Radio Times we’ll talk about Every Child Succeeds, how it will work, how it differs from its predecessor NCLB, and the pros and cons of the legislation. Our guests are ALYSON KLEIN who covers federal policy and Congress for Education Week, DAVID KIRP, professor of Public Policy at the Unversity of California at Berkeley, a supporter of ESSA, and CONOR WILLIAMS from New America who has concerns about replacing NCLB.