A Look at New Flexibility for States in Education

Guests: Mike Petrilli, President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Executive Editor of Education Next; Alisa Ellis, Member of the Utah State Board of Education; Vance Randall, Professor, BYU McKay School of Education; Bryan Bowles, Associate Clinical Professor, BYU McKay School of Education  This school year, a new federal law called the Every Student Succeeds Act takes effect. It was passed as a replacement to No Child Left Behind – which lawmakers, teachers, administrators and parents all disliked for the way it graded schools and punished those that failed to meet federal standards. The new Every Student Succeeds Act puts the responsibility for grading schools squarely in the lap of state regulators. Two of the law’s biggest promises are more flexibility and more local control over education. So how is it working out?