District joins more than 40-member strong Greater Cincinnati School Advocacy Network in calling for a new lesson plan for Ohio students – fewer assessments
A News Release from the Loveland School District:
It is a call – again – for more local control. The Loveland City School District is joining other area districts that are members of the Greater Cincinnati School Advocacy Network (GCSAN) in voicing concern that state edicts continue to provide for extensive overreach in testing, and the 
district is sending a strong message to state legislators regarding implementation of the recent Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Let our teachers teach. According to the U.S. Department of Education, ESSA – the federal education act that replaced No Child Left Behind in December 2015 – builds on key areas of progress in recent years, made possible by the efforts of educators, communities, parents, and students across the country. In practice ESSA was established in part to allow for more state-driven measures on student performance targets and school ratings, with state-developed identification and intervention for district accountability.
“It was our sincere hope that the establishment of the ESSA and removal of federal one-size-fits-all mandates would provide our district the opportunity to re-establish more local control,” said Loveland Superintendent Chad Hilliker. “However, our reality is a continued reduction in classroom instruction time due to additional testing the state is mandating – beyond the federal requirements. Simply stated, our collective request is that state legislators reduce the testing requirement.”
Currently the federal testing requirements include reading and math in grades 3-8 and one 
high school test. The state of Ohio expands on those requirements to include testing in science and social studies in grades 5 and 8, and multiple end-of-course exams for high school.
“We need to reduce testing to the federal requirements,” said Hilliker. “The state needs to let our teachers teach; let our children learn; give back local control to our Board of Education.
The district wants to ensure our community’s voice is heard regarding Ohio’s implementation of ESSA. The Ohio Department of Education will be hosting several ESSA stakeholder meetings – with one in Cincinnati scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29. Click here (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cincinnati-essa-stakeholder-meeting-registration-26762080102) to see full details for the event and to register.
“We are proud of the work we do as directed by our local Board of Education, and we are ready 
to share with our community our achievements in the areas of academics, arts, student leadership and activities, fiscal stewardship, student services and parent and community involvement in the upcoming annual Quality Profile,” said Hilliker. “We are excited to present this story of our district in September.”
About GCSAN
The more than 40-district strong Greater Cincinnati School Advocacy Network (GCSAN) was developed in 2015 to build a collective voice of school districts advocating for students with lawmakers in Columbus and Washington D.C.
This article from The Daily Signal describes the top six new initiatives created within the 1,061 pages of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). It appears that the federal government has the power to grant or withhold funds to school districts–funds which they have collected as taxes from the paychecks of American workers.
http://dailysignal.com/2015/12/02/top-six-new-programs-created-in-no-child-left-behind-rewrite/
1. The Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program. Part A of Title IV of ESSA would establish the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program in order to fund “well-rounded educational opportunities,” “safe and healthy students,” and the “effective use of technology.” ($1.6 billion annually)
2. New Preschool Program. ESSA would establish a new preschool program to be housed at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and jointly administered by the Department of Education. ($250 million annually)
3. Presidential Academies for the Teaching of American History and Civics. ESSA would create the academies to provide professional development to improve the teaching of history and civics to between 50 and 300 teachers annually. It would also establish Congressional Academies, a similar initiative geared toward high school juniors and seniors. ($6.5 million annually)
4. Family Engagement in Education Program. ESSA reconstitutes the former Parental Information Resource Centers into the Family Engagement in Education Program to “carry out parent education, and family engagement in education, programs.” ($10 million annually)
5. New STEM Master Teacher Corps. ESSA would establish a new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Master Teacher Corps program, to create a network of STEM leaders. ($9.3 million annually)
6. Reconstituted SIG Grants. The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, created through the “stimulus,” is eliminated, but Title I funding grows, and its “set-aside” allowance goes from 4 percent to 7 percent, keeping SIG functions effectively intact. (As much as $1 billion of Title I funds annually)