Signed by President Obama on Thursday December 10th, the Every Student Succeeds Act has replaced the controversial No Child Left Behind Act. President Obama described this as a “Christmas Miracle.”

He also said that the changes that will be taking place are “long overdue.”  The Every Student Succeeds Act, in theory, will be a major improvement over its predecessor; however, there are still potential flaws in it.

Many people had issues with the No child Left Behind law. It is often described as “one size fits all,” which is a problem when not all students learn the same way or have access to the same facilities, learning materials, or tools. The expectations of The No Child Left Behind law were described as “totally unrealistic.” Other people criticized the No Child Left Behind law because it gave too much power to Washington over the education policy.  

Despite all those criticisms aimed at No Child Left Behind, it still had good concepts that just weren’t executed very well. In every area that The No Child Left Behind Act falls short the Every Student Succeeds Act picks up the slack. The “cookie cutter reforms” should no longer take place. In addition to that, teacher evaluations will no longer be based on student testing. Students are still required to test every year in math and English, but the assessments can now be broken down into smaller tests that taken throughout the year rather than one large test. It also maintains the expectations there will be accountability to make changes in underperforming schools.  

How Does This Affect BJHS?

Senior Tyler Bullard says that he “doesn’t  believe it would severely affect our public education system in Madison because of the great base of citizens who deeply value the education of our city’s students and put millions of dollars, time, and effort to ensure that the school system has one of the best in the state and the country.”

Mrs. Panagos, a National Board Certified Teacher, feels that it seems like policy after policy is being implemented, and often these things look better on paper than in execution. Mrs. Panagos also states that our school will adapt to any changes that are made.

Principal Lambert is excited about the new implementations because ESSA doesn’t serve the minimum and NCLB catered to the minimum (minimum meaning schools or districts with the lowest test score).

Bob Jones, along with the rest of Madison City, exceeds expectations of test scores and the graduation rate, so hopefully, this policy will fit our situation better.