U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. will give remarks at the Council of the Great City Schools' annual Legislative/Policy Conference on Sunday, March 20, in Washington, D.C. King will discuss the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the opportunities it presents to promote excellence and equity for all of the nation's students, including those in diverse urban public school systems, and the importance of leadership by educators and leaders from the Council of the Great City Schools' member districts, in implementing the new law. A question-and-answer session will follow.
The conference, which brings together the nation's urban school leaders—superintendents, board members, senior administrators and other education officials—will begin on March 19 and continue through March 22. Its focus is ESSA and other legislation and policy issues, and the impact of these policies on states; as well as education funding. The goal of the Council of the Great City Schools is to educate students in large city schools to the highest academic standards and to engage parents and build a confident, committed and supportive urban community for raising the achievement of urban public schoolchildren.