CCSSO Announces Coalition to Advance Student Success
CCSSO recently announced a new effort with 11 other leading educational organizations to help ensure all students receive the equitable educational opportunities they deserve. The newly formed Coalition to Advance Future Student Success is a recognition that the historic injection of federal emergency relief funds presents a transformative opportunity for America’s public K-12 education system.
Coalition members have committed to working together to identify promising practices, support state and local leaders, and coordinate the efforts of leading education organizations towards transformative goals. A key pillar is to support historically marginalized students who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more here.
CEO Update
Colleagues,
The challenges of the last year laid bare the need for fundamental changes in K-12 education.
The unprecedented amount of federal funds available through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) I & II and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) presents an opportunity to provide all students with the educational opportunity they deserve.
To help guide a path forward, CCSSO has helped convene 12 of the leading education organizations to form the Coalition to Advance Future Student Success.
This newly formed Coalition is a recognition that the historic injection of federal emergency relief funds presents a transformative opportunity for America’s public K-12 education system. The Coalition represents leaders involved in advancing public education, from practitioners in the classroom to the state capitol.
They are: CCSSO, National Governors Association, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Conference of State Legislatures, AASA - The School Superintendents Association, Council of the Great City Schools, Chiefs for Change, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National School Boards Association, National Education Association, and American Federation of Teachers.
We are all aware that this level of education spending requires careful stewardship and intentional guidance to bring about the levels of change needed to reopen, recover, rebuild and lay the groundwork for long-term changes that will help all students succeed in a post-COVID era. As part of this Coalition, we are working at the national level to coordinate with organizations representing education leaders at the state, district, school and classroom levels to continue to support you in this effort.
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated just how much public schools are part of the fabric of America’s neighborhoods. I look forward to working with state education leaders, coalition partners and others to use this moment as an opportunity to create a more modern and equitable system for all students. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Carissa
COVID-19: Restart & Recovery
Restart & Recovery: Federal Funds for Expanding Broadband and Device Access for Learning
CCSSO designed Federal Funds for Expanding Broadband and Device Access for Learning to help state education leaders close their broadband and device gaps. The policy brief describes key federal programs for state education chiefs to understand and evaluate as potential tools for meeting their state’s connectivity needs. Organized by emergency and non-emergency programs, this paper focuses on three general needs: (1) connecting schools and classrooms; (2) connecting households and other places where students live; and (3) equipping students and educators with devices. Explore the resource here.
What's New at CCSSO
CCSSO Collaborative Groups Open for 2021-2022 Enrollment: CCSSO recently opened enrollment for our Collaboratives for the 2021-2022 program year. CCSSO’s Collaboratives are designed to provide state education agency leaders with highly effective professional development opportunities. Next program year marks the 30th anniversary of the CCSSO Collaboratives, and we are proud to continue offering 17 Collaboratives on a broad range of policy topics. In the current program year, more than 1,000 state education agency professionals from 52 states and territories participated.
More information about the CCSSO Collaboratives program is available in this Collaborative brochure. Enrollment can be completed by clicking here to enroll or by emailing Adam Petermann at adam.petermann@ccsso.org.
CCSSO’s Inclusive Leadership Webisode Series: CCSSO’s latest inclusive webisode, Effective Approaches to Elementary Inclusive Leadership, featured perspectives from principals at the early childhood, elementary, and middle school levels on the realities of being an inclusive school leader. Principals shared strategies, available resources, and the importance of advancing positive outcomes for students with disabilities in their schools. Practicing leaders were joined by Gracie Branch, Associate Executive Director of Professional Learning at the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and Sheryl Cowart Moss, Clinical Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Georgia State University. The discussion focused on the “how to” of inclusive principal leadership in promoting equity for each student and leadership practices for students with disabilities that benefit all students. Learn more and access a recording of the meeting here.
A Mindfulness Moment: CHANGE…Has it for You? (George Floyd…A Year Later)
Reflective Self-Assessment
Submission by Kendall Wilson-Flippin, Ed.D., Director of Equity Initiatives
Do you look at yourself and reflect on what has changed within, or as a result of your being?
It means your outlook and your actions on how to move and move others in making a progressive difference for the voiceless, the powerless is amplified due to reckoning with what you may have once ignored about the truth; the truth of falsehoods, biases, stereotypes, and stigmas being associated with the discomfort of what we don’t know, what we don’t understand and haven’t taken the time to learn.
If this does not describe you…then there is work to do.
CHANGE! Change the silence. Change the complacency. Change your security found in not challenging others to grow. There is still trauma and thus need for healing. There is still racism and need for equity and justice.
The change begins with YOU! The change needs to be US!
What are we going to do? Change or conform?
Note: CCSSO’s Anti-Racism Webinar Series, "Sustaining The Movement Beyond The Moment," will relaunch in August. Stay tuned for updates.
Advocacy in Action
The Biden Administration releases Full FY2022 Budget: The Biden Administration recently released the full FY2022 Budget to Congress. The budget discusses the American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan at length. You can look at the entire budget here, a fact sheet on the budget here. On Wednesday, June 16, USED Secretary Miguel Cardona testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies on the President’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget request for USED. Watch the hearing here.
USED Provides Guidance on Maintenance of Equity Requirements under ARP ESSER Funds & Announces Actions to Advance Equity in Education: On June 9, USED released new Maintenance of Equity provisions that are a condition for States and LEAs to receive funds under the ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund. Appendix A includes information on baseline and initial data that each SEA must submit by July 20, 2021, for Fiscal Year 2022. To read the guidance, click here
On the same day, USED also announced a serious of actions it is taking to advance equity in education. These actions include the release of a report highlighting the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on K-12 and postsecondary students in underserved communities, the release of guidance to implement the maintenance of equity provisions under the American Rescue Plan that are designed to ensure that the school districts with the highest poverty do not receive any per-pupil decrease in state funding below their pre-pandemic levels and an Equity Summit Series that USED will be holding over the coming months. The Equity Summit Series launched virtually on June 22, 2021. To learn more about these efforts, click here and for highlights from Equity Summit Series Launch, click here.
Biden Administration Declares June 21 “Child Tax Credit Awareness Day”: On June 11, the Biden Administration announced Monday, June 21 as “Child Tax Credit Awareness Day” to encourage families to use a new child tax credit sign up tool. The administration released guidance on three elements of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) on this day: the $15 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG); the expansion of the child and dependent care tax credits; and the six-month extension of the paid leave tax credit. Learn more here.