Power, influence, and déjà vu 

Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), one of ESSA’s coauthors, has made one thing abundantly clear: The law prohibits the federal government from acting as a “national school board.” No longer can the U.S. Department of Education compel states to adopt its favored policies on academic standards, teacher evaluation, or any other matter. And if Betsy DeVos or other federal staff try to reassert the department’s power to shape state-level policies and practices — by, for example, pressuring states to strengthen their goals for student achievement — Alexander will not hesitate to call them out, as he has done on several occasions already.  

But if ESSA has reined in the federal government’s influence over state and local educational decision making, then who will take the lead? Who among public schooling’s dizzying array of stakeholders — governors, state legislators, school boards, superintendents, parents, and so on — will define the education agenda in the coming years?  

Of course, like every other moment in the history of American education, the present one triggers a sense of déjà vu: Similar questions came to the fore nearly 40 years ago, when President-elect Ronald Reagan announced plans to cut back the federal government’s role in education.