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U.S. Department of Education 

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee — Title I, Part A of the ESEA

as Amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act 

Organizational Protocols

I. Mission Statement

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has established this negotiated rulemaking committee to 

develop proposed regulations on certain topics under title I, part A of the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 

II. Purpose

The negotiated rulemaking process brings together Federal, State and local administrators, tribal 

leaders, parents and students, teachers, principals, other school leaders, paraprofessionals, and the 

civil rights and business communities to discuss and negotiate draft regulations. The purpose of 

negotiated rulemaking is to improve the substance of regulations; increase understanding of, and 

support for, those regulations; and encourage affected parties to communicate with each other and 

share information, knowledge, and expertise. 

III. Participation

A. The committee consists of the following members:

Constituency Negotiators

U.S. Department of 

Education

Patrick Rooney

Ary Amerikaner*

State administrators and

State boards of education

Tony Evers, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

Marcus Cheeks, Mississippi Department of

Education

Local administrators and

local boards of education

Alvin Wilbanks, Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia

Derrick Chau, Los Angeles Unified School District,

California

Thomas Ahart, Des Moines Public Schools, Iowa*

Tribal leadership Aaron Payment, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe, Michigan

Leslie Harper, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Minnesota*

Parents and students,

including historically

Lisa Mack
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underserved students Rita Pin Ahrens

Teachers Audrey Jackson, Boston Public Schools

Ryan Ruelas, Anaheim City School District, California

Mary Cathryn Ricker, St. Paul Public Schools, Minnesota/

American Federation of Teachers*

Principals Lara Evangelista, New York City Public Schools

Aqueelha James, District of Columbia Public Schools*

Other school leaders,

including charter school

leaders

Eric Parker, Montgomery Public Schools, Alabama

Richard Pohlman, Thurgood Marshall Academy*

Paraprofessionals Lynn Goss, School District of the Menomonie,

Wisconsin

Regina Goings, Clark County School District, Nevada*

Civil rights community,

including representatives

of students with

disabilities, English

learners, and other

historically underserved

students

Delia Pompa, Migration Policy Institute

Ron Hager, National Disability Rights Network

Liz King, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human

Rights*

Janel George, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund*

Business community Kerri Briggs, Exxon Mobil

Kenneth Bowen, Office Depot*

* alternates

B. In addition to the members of the negotiating committee, the following individuals will 

support the work of the committee in reaching consensus:

Facilitator Susan Podziba, Podziba Policy Mediation

Department of Education 

Counsel

Kay Rigling, Deputy Assistant General Counsel

Division of Elementary, Secondary, Adult, and Vocational 

Education, Office of the General Counsel

Supplement not supplant 

experts

Karen Hawley Miles, President and Executive Director, 

Education Resource Strategies
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Courtney Hitchcock, Principal Associate, Education 

Resource, Strategies

Assessment experts Martha Thurlow, Director, National Center on Educational 

Outcomes

Kenji Hakuta, Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Emeritus, 

Stanford University Graduate School of Education

Peggy Carr, Acting Commissioner, National Center for 

Education Statistics, US Department of Education

C. All members of the committee may speak during the negotiations. Each member not 

designated as an alternate will participate for the purpose of determining consensus. A 

member designated as an alternate will participate for the purpose of determining consensus

in the absence of a member of his or her designated constituency. 

D. The committee may add members. Requests for membership must be made at the beginning 

of the first session, on March 21st, 2016, and must be approved by a consensus of the 

committee members, as defined in these protocols. To be considered by the committee, the 

individual must be among the individuals or groups that provided advice and 

recommendations in response to ED’s Request for Information published on December 22, 

2015.1 New members may begin to participate immediately upon admission to membership.

E. Subcommittees may be formed by the committee, at the request of any member, to address 

specified issues and to make recommendations to the committee. Subcommittees are not 

authorized to make decisions for the committee. Subcommittee meetings will be open to any 

member of the committee and may be held between the meetings of the committee. All 

committee members will be notified of all subcommittee meetings. 

F. Upon the initiation by any member and after consultation with the facilitator, the Secretary 

may remove a member he determines is not acting in good faith in accordance with 

paragraph IX.B of this protocol. In such a case, the Secretary will provide an explanation in 

writing to the member and the committee. 

G. The Secretary may remove any member who ceases to be employed by or associated with the 

constituency the individual was chosen to represent. 

IV. Participant Roles

A. Committee members are responsible for:

1. Participating in committee meetings to ensure that the interests the member 

represents are considered;

 

1Any new member must not have a conflict of interest that would prevent the individual from engaging in the 

negotiations in good faith. 
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2. Working to reach consensus on the issues before the committee; and

3. Participating in subcommittees and/or caucuses, as needed, to develop options to 

bring before the entire committee.

B. The facilitator will be responsible for:

1. Chairing the meetings in an impartial manner;

2. Assisting committee members in conducting discussions and negotiations to ensure 

that the meeting proceeds in an orderly manner;

3. Developing the meeting agenda in consultation with members of the committee; 

4. Helping the parties to resolve their differences and achieve consensus on the issues to 

be addressed by the committee; 

5. Facilitating all committee meetings and subcommittee meetings and caucuses, to the 

extent possible; and 

6. Maintaining records of agreements and disagreements.

C. Experts are responsible for:

1. Answering questions posed by committee members; and

2. Providing information to clarify or ensure accurate understanding of issues within the 

scope of the negotiations.

V. Decision Making

The committee will operate by consensus, meaning that there must be no dissent by any member 

in order for the committee to be considered to have reached agreement. Thus, no member can be 

outvoted. Members should not block or withhold consensus unless they have serious 

reservations about the approach or solution that is proposed for consensus. Absence or 

abstention will be equivalent to not dissenting. All consensus agreements reached during the 

negotiations will be considered tentative until members of the committee reach final agreement 

on regulatory language. Once final consensus is achieved, committee members may not 

withdraw their consensus. 

VI. Agreement

A. The goal of the committee is to develop written, proposed regulations that reflect a final 

consensus of the committee. 

B. If the committee reaches a final consensus on the issue of supplement not supplant or the 

issue of assessments, or on both issues, ED will use the consensus-based language in its 

notice of proposed rulemaking and the committee members will refrain from submitting any

negative comments through the public comment process on the consensus-based language of 

the proposed rule. If a member nevertheless submits a negative comment on the consensusbased language, ED is under no obligation to respond to the comment in the final rule.
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C. If the committee reaches a final consensus on the issue of supplement not supplant or the 

issue of assessments, or on both issues, all published proposed regulations on the issues for 

which consensus was reached shall conform with the consensus-based language unless ED

reopens the negotiated rulemaking process. 

VIII. Committee Meetings 

A. The facilitator will maintain a clear and reliable record of tentative and final agreements 

reached during the negotiation process. The draft meeting summaries will be provided to 

members, who may share them with others within their constituency. After review and 

approval by the committee, this record will be made available to the public. 

B. The committee meetings will be transcribed. A transcript of the committee meetings will be 

made available to the public at the end of the negotiation process. Subcommittee meetings 

and caucuses will not be transcribed.

C. ED will make every effort to distribute materials to committee members in a timely fashion

in advance of committee meetings. 

D. A caucus for the purpose of consultation may be requested of the facilitator at any time by 

any member. 

E. All committee meetings, but not subcommittee meetings or caucuses, are open to the public. 

IX. Safeguards for Members 

A. Any member may withdraw from the negotiations at any time, by notifying the facilitator in 

writing. 

B. All members and the organizations they represent shall act in good faith in all aspects of 

these negotiations. 

C. In the interests of promoting free and open conversation as well as collegial decision-making, 

contact with the media and other organizations outside the community of interest represented 

by the member will generally be limited to discussion of the overall objectives and progress 

of the negotiations. Members should refrain from characterizing the views, motives, and 

interests of other members during contact with the media, other organizations outside the 

community of interest represented by the member, and to the general public through social 

media.