AFT President Randi Weingarten on DeVos’ Elimination of ESSA Stakeholder Engagement Requirement

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ elimination of the stakeholder engagement requirement under the Every Student Succeeds Act:

“One of the problems of education reform over the last two decades was the attempt by billionaires and politicians to impose top-down dictates about what schools should do and how they should do it, and to strip the voices of those closest to kids—their parents and teachers. That was changed by ESSA through its requirement of ‘stakeholder engagement,’ which brings in parent and teacher voices and reflects America’s deep connection to public education. Betsy DeVos’ action betrays the very intention of this law.”