TransACT ParentNotices, in collaboration with some states and districts, has translated its ESSA and General Education ParentNotices Collections into Dari, Pashto, and Ukrainian, the languages of recent refugee populations. The following ParentNotices Collections have been updated:

Published on June 16, 2023 and updated on November 9, 2023

How the Debt Ceiling Deal Could Impact Future Federal Education Funding

The U.S. Congress passed, and President Biden signed legislation to avoid defaulting on the U.S. government’s loans. Congress nearly failed to raise the debt limit, which is the amount of money the government can borrow. The U.S. actually reached the debt limit in March; however, the U.S. Treasury had been doing some fiscal juggling to avoid defaulting on the U.S. debt. If the U.S. were to have defaulted on its debt (not pay its bills), it could have had a devastating impact on both the U.S. and the world economy.

In this blog post, you will find everything related to TransACT's ParentNotices and our ESSA ParentNotices Collection. Find all of the monthly updates below:

It can be overwhelming for a homeless liaison to manage their workload without knowing which students are eligible for McKinney-Vento support.

The COVID-19 pandemic added to the challenges that homeless liaisons face on a daily basis. With students attending school irregularly, it became incrementally more difficult to provide them with the necessary services for which they were eligible.

In the webinar “Making a Positive Impact on McKinney-Vento Qualified Students” presented on May 4, TransACT's Phillip Smith was joined by Debbie DiAnni, McKinney-Vento Liaison for the School City of Hammond, and Heidi Reang, District Homeless Liaison with Oregon’s Tigard-Tualatin School District. Together they discussed practical approaches to meeting common challenges associated with tracking McKinney-Vento students and how they've successfully leveraged technology to overcome these challenges. 

When the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law on December 10, 2015, it included changes to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. One of those changes required every School District to appoint a District Homeless Liaison.  

What Is ESSER Funding? 

ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding is the portion of funding from the three COVID-19 relief funding laws designated to help address educational issues arising from the pandemic.

As an education professional, we understand that you are committed to communicating effectively with your students and their families to support student success. Not only that, you’re aware of the legal obligations of presenting information in a language that all parents understand, including the parents of English learner (EL) students. After all, your goal is to build trust, share information, and show that you care about all students in your district  — regardless of which language they speak.

Educators and the news media pay a lot of attention to our current teacher shortage crisis. One of the oft-cited reasons relates to teacher pay. While not the entire solution, having teacher pay be commensurate with their education level would be a step in the right direction. 

Published on October 5, 2022

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) released the Notice Inviting Applications for two grants funded by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). These grants are part of the Biden Administration's goal of “doubling the number of school-based mental health professionals.”  

The National Association of English Learner Program Administrators’ (NAELPA) Advocating for Multilingual Learners Committee recently posted a brief white paper, The Importance of an Asset-Based Mindset and Using Asset-Based Terminology when Referencing the ESSA Subgroup – ELs. The white paper summarizes the results of the committee’s research on this topic.