The Minnesota Department of Education provided an update on several changes, including multiple federal actions that have affected ESSA regulations:
- On January 18, the U.S. Department of Education withdrew its proposed supplement-not-supplant regulations.
- On January 20, President Trump froze for 60 days several regulations that were set to go into effect, including final regulations pertaining to accountability, school improvement and state plans. These regulations are currently being reviewed and may be retracted or revised.
- Assessment regulations are unaffected by the freeze, since they took effect before the freeze was issued.
- On February 1, resolutions were introduced in the House of Representatives that would use the Congressional Review Act to repeal the accountability, school improvement, and state plan regulations and the Higher Education Title II teacher preparation regulations. These resolutions have not yet passed the House, and would also need to pass the Senate and be signed by the President before taking effect.
Staff at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) continue to meet and plan with wide range of people across the state. Minnesota’s state plan development will continue with the ESSA statute (which is unaffected) as its guide.
