');
	document.write('

Today  President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which  reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). This  new bipartisan law, which will replace the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, is  good news for our nation’s schools and students. The ESSA includes many of the  key reforms we have called on Congress to enact since the beginning of the Administration  and that many of you have pioneered in recent years on your own and in implementing  ESEA flexibility.  It helps to ensure  educational opportunity for all students by:

- Holding *all* students to high academic standards that prepare them for success in college  and careers.
- Requiring that, when students fall behind,  steps are taken to help them, and their schools, improve, with a particular  focus on the lowest-performing five percent of Title I schools, high schools  with low graduation rates, and schools where subgroups, including students from  low-income families, English learners, students with disabilities, and students  of color, are falling behind.
- Empowering State and local decision makers to  continue to refine their own systems for school improvement.
- Continuing to require annual, comparable  statewide assessments, so that parents and educators have the information they  need to make sure children are making progress, while encouraging review and  elimination of unnecessary tests.
- Establishing as part of the ESEA programs to:
- Provide more children with access to  high-quality preschool – similar to the current Preschool Development Grants  program;
- Spur innovations developed by educators at  the local level and evidence-based strategies for high-need students – similar  to the current Investing in Innovation (i3) grant program;
- Encourage States and districts to put in  place new supports for teachers and school leaders, including increases in  compensation that are based in part on student learning and other measures;
- Support innovative and evidence-based teacher  and leader recruitment, preparation, and development;
- Support comprehensive wraparound services  from early learning to college and career in high-need communities – similar to  the current Promise Neighborhoods grant program;
- Replicate and expand high-performing charter  schools for high-need students – similar to the current High-Quality Public  Charter School Replication and Expansion grants program; and
- Provide continued support for magnet schools designed  to improve diversity and increase academic achievement.
- Protecting students  from low-income families and students of color from being taught at  disproportionate rates by ineffective teachers – building on existing State  Plans to Ensure Equitable Access to Excellent Educators.

We  are all taking a moment today to celebrate this momentous step forward and  recognize that in the weeks and months to come there is much work to be done. We  will work closely with you and your staffs to ensure a smooth transition to  this new law. We will work together to develop solutions to the many important  policy and implementation decisions that will arise, and will work swiftly to  provide answers to the many questions we know you will have. You can find the  latest information at www.ed.gov/essa, and can ask  questions through your contact in our Office of State Support, or by e-mailing  us at essa.questions@ed.gov.

Sincerely,



/s/
      /s/Arne Duncan
      John B. King, Jr.Secretary of Education
      Principal Senior Advisor, Delegated Duties of the Deputy Secretary