United States Department of Education
Office of Formula Grants
On October 15, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order 13891, “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents,” which established a Federal policy “to rescind those guidance documents that should no longer be in effect” and required the U.S. Department of Education (Department) to create a searchable “guidance portal” that contains or links to all guidance documents in effect. In accordance with the Executive Order, the Department published a notice in the Federal Register on February 26, 2020, notifying the public of the existence of the Department’s guidance portal. I am pleased to provide an update on the work that the Department has been doing since the President’s Executive Order.
First, since the Executive Order was signed, the Department has created a guidance portal located at- https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/types-of-guidance-documents.html. This portal links to a searchable index of all of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (OESE’s) guidance documents written to support the implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act. The guidance documents found in the portal are effective as of the date issued and provide guidance that is non-binding both in law and practice.
The second action taken by OESE to comply with the President’s Executive Order was to complete a comprehensive review of its guidance documents and rescind guidance that was deemed outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective. To this end, the Department published a notice in the Federal Register on August 31, 2020, notifying the public of the guidance documents rescinded by the Department as a result of its review. At this time, OESE has a total of 46 guidance documents that have been rescinded as a part of this effort. These documents are being rescinded because they are outdated or have been superseded, and therefore are no longer relevant. Information specific to those guidance documents that have been rescinded, as of the date of the Department’s notice, is available at-https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/31/2020-19144/notice-of-the-rescission-of-outdated-guidance-documents.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Federal Program Officer if you have questions after reviewing the website and notice.
Ruth E. Ryder
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Formula Grants
