Here’s How Congress Can Avoid Betraying ESEA
In late September, a group of education advocates from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., to advocate for a federal education bill that protects children and civil rights. Earlier this year, the House and Senate both passed their own bills — which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) — and a negotiated version is forthcoming.
Sean Bradley (pictured above), president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Denver, said he enjoyed “having an opportunity to meet with members of our Colorado delegation and their staff to highlight the importance of access and education quality.”
“Our kids matter,” Bradley said. And for him and the other advocates who came to Washington, the issue is personal.
“We need to know that there will be equity in funding,” said Joan Duvall-Flynn, state education chair of the Pennsylvania state conference of the NAACP. “We consider it of great importance to the commerce of the United States that we have a well-trained workforce.”
Duvall-Flynn’s concerns are warranted: According to a report released earlier this year by the Education Trust, Pennsylvania’s funding gap is third worst in the country. Nationally, the report says, funding disparities are “devastatingly large.”
The equitable distribution of critical educational resources is one of four main concerns that advocates have as both chambers of Congress work on a negotiated bill to update ESEA.
Another concern is accountability for student outcomes — something that Jenness Roth, a parent from Memphis who works at the University of Tennessee’s Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities, cares about in particular.

“I just want to support the ESEA and continue to keep it strong, in particular for our young people with disabilities,” Roth said when she was in D.C. “I know that my son Sam went through school when there wasn’t a lot of accountability for kids with disabilities by the school system, and there needs to be more. And I think ESEA has made really strong strides in that regard — I hope it stays strong.”
David Jefferson, who founded Parent Support Arizona, had a similar message. “I’m here today because I believe all children matter,” he said. Kelly Nye-Lengerman from Minnesota also came to D.C. to express “the importance of civil rights for children with disabilities in public schools.”
Bills thus far have overly limited the role of the Secretary of Education — a federal role that civil rights and education advocates argue must be honored and maintained in any reauthorization. Jim Vincent, who serves as president of the NAACP’s Providence, R.I., chapter, agrees.
“I’m here because education is important. ESEA is important. We need to have a continued federal presence in education, make no mistake about it,” he said.
Vincent also wants to see better data.
“We need to collect data to make sure we know what’s going on with different groups in terms of their achievement,” he said. “We need to, in particular, disaggregate data on Asians, because those cultures differ widely.”

Vincent is right. The performance of some Asian American children could hide the struggles of other students, especially the children of Southeast Asian refugees — so it’s critical that a reauthorization requires this further disaggregation. That’s how we’ll understand how all students are doing, and what their needs might be.
Much progress has been made over the past 50 years since ESEA was first signed into law by President Johnson, but educational inequality continues to quash dreams, erode our democracy, and hinder economic growth. As Congress works to produce a reauthorization, these advocates and others across the country will continue to speak out on these critical civil rights principles — and will continue to tell lawmakers: Don’t betray ESEA.








