Trump Education Department delays accountability regulations

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is moving to delay regulations aimed at helping states identify failing schools and come up with plans to improve them.

The delay was outlined Monday in the Federal Register. It is in line with the administration’s move to postpone the effective date of new regulations to give officials time to review them.

The Education Department rules provide a framework for states to develop their own accountability plans under the bipartisan education bill signed into law by President Barack Obama. They were released last November.

Under the law, states may design accountability systems that consider measures beyond test scores and high school graduation rates. The states have flexibility in deciding how much weight to give to each — as well as other measures including school climate, advanced coursework and chronic absenteeism. The rules require that the plans measure the performance of all students, including “sub-groups of students” such as racial minorities, children from low-income families, and special education students.

The effective date of the regulations was delayed until March 21. Also affected were rules concerning the privacy of students’ school records.

The Federal Register notice indicated this was the “first of several” actions the department planned to take involving regulations that have been published but have not yet taken effect.

Among the others it said would be forthcoming was the borrower defence rule, which is designed to help students who are defrauded by their schools and have federal student loan debt.

The notice was dated last Thursday and signed by Philip Rosenfelt, the acting education secretary.

President Donald Trump has nominated Betsy DeVos as education secretary. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has scheduled a vote on the nomination Tuesday over the objection of Democrats, who say they need more time to review her responses to written questions.