The Every Student Succeeds Act strips away the Secretary of Education’s authority to involve himself or herself in state and local matters. It diminishes the federal role in education. It is a direct repudiation of Arne Duncan’s insistence on imposing his whims and wishes onto state policies.
Yet, Arne Duncan says he is very pleased with the new law!
Here is Peter Greene’s analysis. Of course, with a bill that is more than 1,000 pages long, there is room for interpretation, but it is hard to see an interpretation here that enables anyone to see this bill as confirmation of the principles of Race to the Top. If the states want to continue its bad policies, they are free to do so. If not, not.
Greene writes:
So Duncan leaves as he came– making word-noises that actually sound pretty good, but are attached to policies and a reality that does not reflect them at all. Duncan never held himself responsible for the progress of students, choosing instead to blame bad, lazy teachers and low-information parents (so long, white suburban moms) and a Congress that wouldn’t behave as he wanted it to. He never held himself responsible by bothering to see if there was a lick of real research and support for any of his favored policies, from “high standards” to VAM-sauce teacher evaluations to the fundamental question of how schools could be held responsible for erasing the effects of poverty and special needs while states could not be held responsible for getting those schools the resources and support they needed. Duncan leaves as he arrived– eyes fixed on some alternate reality while in the real world, he hacks public education to bits and sells off the pieces.
And he’s perfectly okay with ESSA. That is not a good sign.
I don’t share Greene’s fear that ESSA preserves any part of Duncan’s toxic legacy. I think this is a case of making lemonade out of lemons, or putting a positive spin on what amounts to a punch in the face.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Democrats will have created an issue for Republicans to exploit in 2016, if they don’t pull back from test-and-punish now.
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Excerpt from a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan from state Senator William. Ligon, Jr. that would explain why Arne is so happy and Peter Greene is rightfully suspicious:
As for ESSA specifically, here are a few of the issues that I find troubling in the bill. Although Section 8544 (p. 859) assures us that States face no penalties for withdrawing from the Common Core standards or for otherwise revising their standards, ESSA requires that state standards must align with higher-education requirements. Since federal mandates have already ensured that our colleges and universities have aligned their entrance requirements with Common Core (known as College and Career Ready) then it would appear that we again have an entire process, both lengthy and expensive, to readdress college entrance requirements before Georgia could exit the Common Core.
Furthermore, ESSA still requires “career and technical education standards” that must align to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). It is also apparent that ESSA still requires state educational plans, which includes standards, to comply with 11 existing federal statutes, and that the Secretary of Education must sign off on these plans (Section 1005, amending Section 1111(a)(1)(B), pp. 38-39). These statutes run the gamut from Head Start to WIOA.
As with all the previous reform legislation from Goals 2000 onward, this bill is intertwined and additive to the overall federal framework for education. ESSA may mitigate some of the onerous effects of NCLB, but it continues to advance the top-down, federal reform agenda.
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Agree
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Has he read it?
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What if Duncan’s charge from Eli Broad was to undermine public schools from coast to coast and to create favorable conditions in all 50 states for privatization and for predominance of commercial standardized testing annually? That seems to be what Duncan achieved in all 50 states with the help of crony Democrats and crony union chiefs, so perhaps he has reason to feel successful?
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Many education reformers who advocate high-stakes Common Core testing applaud ESSA. Have they changed their minds? Or do they understand how the “strong federal guardrails,” in Senator Patty Murray’s words, work? I think the latter. The ESSA makes it virtually impossible for states to depart from the education reform agenda and get Title 1 funds.
I argue this point here: http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/12/congress-and-obama-feign-a-course-correction-on-testing.html
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Arne loves ESSA because it is one more nail in the coffin for the sovereignty of the USA. He is working with the globalists to make an end run around our pesky political system where elected officials are supposed to be accountable to the people. Elected school boards–who needs ’em? Elected local officials–superfluous when global mayors of global cities are taking orders from the United Nations which Bill Gates heavily supports.
“STATES TO RETAIN RIGHTS AND AUTHORITIES THEY DO NOT EXPRESSLY WAIVE.” Guess what? Every state that accepts one penny of federal money will automatically waive its rights and authorities.
Participating in the program to receive funds requires states to waive their states’ rights and those of the parent over their child if they conflict with ANY requirements of the program. The federal government has a plan and the states and the children must adhere to it. Period. End of story.
And Arne has bigger fish to fry. He hosted this event:
The world’s global cities converged
on Chicago May 27-29, 2015, for the
inaugural Chicago Forum on Global
Cities. Leaders in the major pillars
of urban life – business innovators,
education visionaries, cultural
luminaries, civic pioneers – came
together to discuss how they can
collaborate to improve their cities and
the world.
“Global cities truly have
transcended national
frontiers.”
~ Lionel Barber, Editor, Financial Times
Arne thinks mayors should run all schools –for strong leadership and stability, of course.
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/arne-duncan-mayors-schools-033109.html
Speaking at a forum with mayors and superintendents, Duncan promised to help more mayors take over.
“At the end of my tenure, if only seven mayors are in control, I think I will have failed,” Duncan said.
He offered to do whatever he can to make the case. “I’ll come to your cities,” Duncan said. “I’ll meet with your editorial boards. I’ll talk with your business communities. I will be there.”
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Politicians, businessmen never lose, all went well, according to plans, as far as they are concerned; they simply move on to the next project: become member of boards, become consultants, give talks, appear in talk shows, and if all else fails, they start teaching at universities.
So let’s guess what Arne is going to do next.
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“So Duncan leaves as he came– making word-noises that actually sound pretty good, but are attached to policies and a reality that does not reflect them at all.”
As good an epitaph as any for the Duncan era. He is one of those administrators that look right through you when you speak. Your words pass right through them, followed by those “word-noises” whose frustrating absence of meaning convey that what you said didn’t register and nothing will change.
Of his contributions we can say that students, teachers, schools endured his reign, and now he is gone. That is all.
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I am reading too many reports by people who have actually read the bill who are slowly dissecting out all the hidden shortcomings of this bill. Susan Ohanian provides links to some troubling analyses if Peter Green’s concerns are not enough. It is beginning to sound like those who wish to continue to dismantle public education have simply found less obvious ways of continuing their mission. I really do not understand the abandonment of protecting the public good.
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Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
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Like.
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