Passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced No Child Left Behind, created an opportunity for Secretary of Education John King to “reset the tone of conversation about teachers,” says the Washington Post.
“I think there’s just such an urgency around making sure that teachers feel valued in our society. It’s one of the things I worry a lot about,” King told the Post. “I want young people to see a future for themselves as teachers.”
In January, King delivered a speech at a Philadelphia high school in which the newspaper said he apologized for the federal government’s role in making educators feel “attacked and unfairly blamed,” by linking their evaluations to student test scores.
The new federal education law gives more authority to state and local governments. It also makes teachers a partner in the development and implementation of new education policies.
King told the Post that his department will pay attention to the views of classroom teachers and underscored the importance of initiatives like Teach to Lead. His predecessor, Arne Duncan, launched that initiative, which is a partnership with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to support teacher leadership.
SOURCE: Washington Post | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
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