The Georgia Department of Education is seeking public comment about its plans for implementing the new federal education law.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, a bipartisan bill signed by President Barack Obama in December 2015, ended an era of high-stakes test mandates from Washington under the previous No Child Left Behind Act. The new approach gives states more control over education policy.

States must each develop their own approach to implementing the revised federal law, and Georgia has been working on its plan for about a year, focusing on struggling schools and school accountability, student testing, teacher recruitment and training and the use of federal money.

The draft plan “moves Georgia’s accountability system beyond a focus on test scores alone, allowing a more holistic view of district and school performance,” the state education department said.

The agency expects to implement the new policies in the upcoming school year. But first, its plan must be approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Georgia is taking public comment until July 14 before making any needed adjustments to the plan and submitting it to Washington in September.

See the details: Georgia's ESSA State Plan, with two-page summaries of Education of the Whole ChildAccountabilityAssessmentEducator and Leader DevelopmentFederal Programs to Support School Improvement.

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Corbitt VanDuzer, 6, strikes a pose for her mother, teacher Kathryn VanDuzer, before her first day of first grade at Glennwood Elementary School in Decatur, Ga., on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Seeger Gray/AJC)

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