After months of criticism from Republican lawmakers, state chiefs, and teachers’ unions on its approach to spending rules for the Every Student Succeeds Act, the U.S. Department of Education last week released a new proposal that appears to give districts and states some additional flexibility when it comes to ensuring federal funds for low-income students don’t replace state and local dollars. But, judging from early reaction, it is unlikely that the changes to proposed rules for the part of the law known as “supplement not supplant” will be enough to placate the sharpest critics of the department’s original approach, crafted as part of a “negotiated rulemaking” process this spring.
