As states cement education plans for their schools under the federal K-12 law, the Department of Education is working furiously to assess them amid mounting concerns about states' commitment to following the law, their proposals to ensure historically disadvantaged students have access to quality education, and the department's capacity – and in some cases, lack of desire – to police it all.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, gives states new flexibility to create accountability systems that suit their unique needs. Those plans must be vetted and cleared by the Department of Education before states begin implementing them in the near future.

The process has been somewhat tumultuous, triggering concern from across the education spectrum about how Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and department officials would review each submission.

So far, the department's feedback to states has irked Republicans, whose goal is to ensure states have as much flexibility as possible when devising their education plans. At the same time, it's vexed Democrats, who argue Obama-era regulations informing state education officials of exactly how they are supposed to implement the new law should not have been eliminated.

Read the full article on the ESSA by Lauren Camera at U.S. News