by Todd Truitt

The eight large Northern Virginia school board chairs have released a joint letter asking for a “delay of at least one year” on the new accountability system until a new governor is in office, claiming that a three-year development and implementation period is “rushed” (i.e., they may need five years or more). In fact, this development and implementation period is longer than for the last accountability system, which was implemented in less than nine months.

The joint letter touts how these districts contain approximately 60% of the state’s English Learners, but then proceeds to attack 22+ year-old federal English Learner civil rights protections, describing such protections as “unrealistic runways for English Language Learners (3 semesters for Mastery rather than the current Demonstration of Growth)”. 

Notably, their resistance to such English Learner civil rights also puts these school systems in opposition to:

1. Three major national civil rights groups, including two major Latino civil rights organizations, who provided a formal comment in July 2024 supporting Virginia’s accountability system change to include English Learners consistent with the 2015 U.S. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
2. Both major national teachers unions and 40+ national civil rights organizations who all reconfirmed their support this year for the inclusion of English Learners consistent with ESSA in accountability systems.

As I previously detailed, the 22+ year-old federal civil rights protections include English Learners in school accountability systems after three semesters (vs. after 11 semesters in Virginia’s old state system). Last week, I also detailed how any further “delay” of the new system’s implementation would prioritize the sensitivity to greater transparency of adults who run certain Virginia public school systems over the civil rights of Virginia communities, families and students.

Kneejerk Partisan Reaction Results in Mockery

The school systems’ attacks on English Learner inclusion and the new accountability system in general has been the subject of mockery by Virginia Republicans, especially compared to Maryland Democratic Governor Wes Moore’s administration potentially pursuing similar changes to its state accountability system. As Virginia Republican Delegate (and House Education Committee member) Mike Cherry stated, the only difference between the Maryland and Virginia cases is “the political party of their governors.”

As I detailed in June, the new accountability system promotes core beliefs of the Democratic party, with Arne Duncan, the former U.S. Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama (a Virginia public school parent for six years then), speaking out on social media in support of Virginia’s accountability revamp.

Multiple elected Virginia Democrats have told me off-the-record that many public school administrators are simply acting in a “kneejerk partisan manner” to anything from the Youngkin administration. Others I’ve spoken with faulted the Virginia press for failing to properly inform the public (e.g., see my recent coverage of problematic reporting on accountability by Anna Bryson of the Richmond Times-Dispatch).

Recent VDOE FAQ on Accountability and English Learners

As I discuss in my article on the “70% of schools in the bottom 2 of 4 tiers” myth, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) issued an FAQ debunking a number of pieces of misinformation about the accountability system (e.g., kids were being tracked to join the military).

Here is what the VDOE FAQ states on English Learners:

National Civil Rights Organizations Support Virginia’s Accountability Changes on EL Inclusion

Noted in that FAQ was the July 2024 formal comment in support of Virginia’s change to including English Learners in accountability consistent with federal law by the following prominent civil rights organizations:

1. The Education Trust – an organization “[c]ommitted to advancing policies and practices to dismantle the racial and economic barriers embedded in the American education system.”
2. Migration Policy Institute, National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy – an institute for which the primary reasons of its immigrant advocacy are to “set the record straight” on integration policy and “identify and promote effective policies and practices.”
3. UnidosUS (fka National Council of La Raza) – an organization that “exists to champion and elevate the Latino community.”

Here is an excerpt from their joint formal comment (emphasis added):

Currently, Virginia effectively has two parallel accountability systems: one formal system approved by the US Department of Education and a separate state system of accountability that, while not aligned with all federal requirements, largely drives district and school level decision making. While the federally approved system follows ESSA requirements on the limits of excluding EL academic outcomes, the separate state system allows the performance of newly arrived ELs to be excluded for up to 11 semesters—more than five school years.  

As Virginia works to unify their bifurcated state accountability systems into a single system aligned with federal requirements under ESSA, the state has wisely proposed that the single system will follow the 3 semester exclusion requirements—a move that we strongly endorse. By the state’s own estimation, this change will allow for the performance of an additional 35,000 students to be included in school academic ratings statewide. While school and district leaders may be concerned that these changes could dramatically change how they are rated, this increase in the number of ELs whose performance is “seen” by Virginia’s accountability system prevents schools from masking the underperformance of ELs and will ultimately enable the VDOE to better support ELs. By more accurately identifying schools that need additional resources and support to address the needs of ELs, state, district and school leaders can more effectively support the unique needs of ELs. Given this, we believe it is imperative that the Virginia State Board of Education approve this change proposed by VDOE.

National Teachers Unions and 40+ National Civil Rights Organizations Support EL Inclusion

Both major national teachers unions—the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association—and 40+ national civil rights organizations signed the “Civil Rights Principles for Multilingual Learner Education” in January, 2024. Among other things, these principles reconfirmed these organizations’ commitment to not only include English Learners in accountability systems consistent with ESSA, but also advocate for additional data collection and greater oversight.

As I previously detailed, ESSA and its predecessor federal law, No Child Left Behind, included English Learners in school accountability systems one year after arrival to a school in the United States. However, the soon-to-be-retired Virginia state accreditation system did not include English Learners until 5.5 years after such arrival.

Here are the organizations that signed onto these principles:

Todd Truitt is a parent of two public school students in Arlington County, Virginia. He is also the former Chair of the Math Advisory Committee for Arlington Public Schools and active in the Arlington Democrats. He is a business transactions attorney and a Certified Public Accountant.