Dear Parents,

 

Last month, we presented revisions to the draft Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)  plan  (revised summary available  here ) to the Board of Regents. Since releasing the draft plan in May, the Department received more than 1,000 public comments, both in writing and verbally at the 13 public meetings held across the state, and made revisions to the draft plan in response to those comments.

 

The revised draft plan continues to emphasize fostering equity in education for New York's students; expands measures for school support and accountability and student success; and requires school-level improvement plans for the lowest performing schools overall as well as schools with the lowest performance for certain student populations.

 

The plan also includes strategies for supporting the professional growth of educators and ensuring that all students, including English language learners/Multilingual learners, immigrant students, migratory youth, homeless youth, and neglected and delinquent youth, have access to a well-rounded, culturally responsive education that supports their academic and social-emotional development. Read detailed highlights of the plan  and find out more about ESSA here .

 

In other news, we recently announced that 44 colleges and universities in New York will receive Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP) grants totaling more than $17 million. Recipients of these higher education initiative grants will provide programming for at-risk students to graduate high school and successfully transition into postsecondary education or to a career path. Each college or university will work with a school and a community-based organization to provide students with one year of continuous services including skills assessment, tutoring, academic and personal counseling, family counseling and home visits, and mentoring programs.

LPP   is designed to support the successful transition of middle and high school students at-risk of dropping out of school to high school graduates, fully prepared for the rigors of higher education and the competitive demands of a global economy. Statewide, the initiative has already served more than 13,000 students in grades 5-12, with 95% of participants promoted to the next level of education.

 

I'm also excited to share that visitors to Albany will now have the opportunity to take free tours of both the State Education Building and the Capitol on the second Saturday of each month, beginning tomorrow, Saturday, August 12. Tours of the Education Building will be offered at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., and tours of the Capitol will be given at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Each of the tours can accommodate 25 people and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at:  www.empirestateplaza.org . Visitors can choose to register for both tours or just one.

 

I hope you take advantage of this opportunity to take an inside look at where we work. It's an amazing building!

 

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

MaryEllen Elia
Commissioner