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It鈥檚 a new week? Must be time for another episode of 鈥�States Trying to Circumvent Federal Education Law!鈥� Florida, step right up!

The Sunshine State has over a . The state鈥檚 graduation rate for ELLs is , the rate for non-ELLs. And yet, in its outline of what the state will do for its students learning English with the in federal education dollars it will receive this year, Florida has decided to test whether the U.S. Department of Education is paying attention.

Specifically, the state is proposing to leave ELLs鈥� progress toward proficiency out of the state鈥檚 system for measuring school quality. This is a terrible idea. It also happens to be illegal. The Every Student Succeeds Act says states must include these students鈥� progress learning English in schools鈥� ratings under these new systems (cf. ESSA Section 1111(c)(4)(B), to be specific).

. In an email, Miami Dade College professor 鈥� and president of Miami-Dade鈥檚 TESOL/Bilingual Education Association 鈥� Ryan Pontier writes, 鈥淩ather than striving to continuously improve and provide an equitable education for its almost 300,000 ELs, Florida is engulfing itself in ignorance by rejecting decades of research, boundless personal stories of struggle, and the new federal law. 鈥�

But Florida education leaders need not worry. Who cares what ESSA says? The Trump administration has already plans that wholly ignored the law鈥檚 language. ESSA has turned out to be the limp, tough-as-tapioca document that .

Which, improbably, recalls from American pragmatist philosopher William James. 鈥淕rant an idea or belief to be true 鈥� what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone鈥檚 actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth鈥檚 cash-value in experiential terms?鈥�

Grant a rule to be true. Declare: Every state must hold schools accountable for ELLs鈥� progress learning English using tests designed to measure English proficiency. Does the declaration make it so? 贵濒辞谤颈诲补鈥檚 proposal dares the federal government to decide.

If the state鈥檚 plan is approved, we鈥檒l have further proof that the letter of ESSA鈥檚 law won鈥檛 be enforced, and that its meaning is nothing more or less than what鈥檚 politically and ideologically expedient for Republican leadership in Washington, D.C. In the world of experience, its 鈥渃ash-value鈥� is appreciably nil.

Federal education policy is no different. Take an unpopular federal law, replace it with another one with , erase regulations that aimed to its provisions, etc., etc. 鈥� fine. But don鈥檛 express surprise when it turns out that this process delivers school accountability systems and civil rights guardrails too flaccid to make any 鈥渃oncrete difference鈥� in any school鈥檚 actual performance.

Think of James鈥檚 concept this way: I flew for work the other day. As is American custom, the luggage bins inside the plane鈥檚 cabin filled before everyone found a space for their rollerboard bags. Traditions held 鈥� there was a passive-aggressive standoff, one particularly grumpy passenger, a sweaty planeful of voyeurs anxiously (and guiltily) ogling the unpleasantness, and, obviously, a delay.

I was at ease. I fly with a duffel bag 1) to pre-empt such drama, and 2) to sneak in some needed core muscle work while walking the terminal. Win-win.

Yet still I wondered: Why don鈥檛 airlines enforce their carry-on limits? The bins were bursting with bags that never would鈥檝e fit in the sample racks outside at the gate (and again at the ticket counter). Countless airline and airport staff waved those passengers toward the seats on the plane. Why bother having rules if they鈥檙e not going to matter?

Of course, it鈥檚 not so simple. Game it out: an airline sets bag limits that actually fit their planes. Crews and ticket agents enforce them. What happens?

Passengers are going to be unhappy, of course. Many of them own suitcases that don鈥檛 meet the airline鈥檚 strict guidelines. Many don鈥檛 want to pay fees to check these bags on their flights. These passengers might not put up with those rules, and given the state of the air travel market, they probably don鈥檛 have to.

No airline actually has enough leverage to enforce carry-on baggage rules to that level of detail. So they let the space on their planes do it for them. Lots of people bend 鈥� a nice word for break 鈥� the baggage rules, some folks wind up having to unexpectedly check their bags, and an uneasy peace reigns over the land.

Which gets me back to James. Rules only matter to the degree that they have sufficient heft to shift behavior. Airlines鈥� baggage rules are only casually, amorphously enforced by airlines, so their actual meaning isn鈥檛 the letter of the rule (those prominent sample bins at the ticket counter), it鈥檚 the fuzzy reality on the ground.

Federal education policy is no different. But that doesn鈥檛 stop from hoping that ESSA鈥檚 vague rules, inconsistently enforced, will somehow protect underserved children, motivate educators, and improve our schools. The DeVos Department of Education appears the interest in nor the stomach for implementing ESSA in a serious way that would require states to actually follow the law.

So states won鈥檛. The distance between the letter and the concrete meaning of the law is why ESSA was never going to improve on the 鈥� admittedly unpopular 鈥� status quo under No Child Left Behind. ESSA delivered the United States鈥� public education system from painful consequences, and some politicians from uncomfortable pressures, sure.

But examples like show that it won鈥檛 deliver meaningful results for kids.

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