This is something that is long overdue and this does look to be a case of what I'm usually very skeptical of: a case of actual bipartisanship around a bill that stands to benefit students, their teachers and parents across the country.
The rollback of one of the Bush's education legacy-No Child Left Behind which put way too much emphasis on student testing and teachers teaching to these tests.
Some of the worst features of it are going to be gone in a new Senate bill that passed in overwhelming numbers.
"Congress is finally on its way to rewriting the long-outdated — and widely hated — No Child Left Behind education law.
"The Senate on Thursday passed an update to the country’s overarching education law that greatly rolls back the federal say in thousands of public schools."
"The chamber, with a vote of 81-17, cleared its bill just a week after the House eked out passage of its proposed rewrite of the 2002 law, a victory it took Republican supporters months to achieve. Now the two chambers and the White House must negotiate a bill that can satisfy the president and House Republicans — who passed their bill with no Democratic support and under the threat of a veto."
"Unlike the original No Child Left Behind, which laid out the moonshot goal of all students eventually reading on grade level, the new Every Child Achieves Act is measured. It responds to widespread unrest about testing and the Common Core academic standards, diminishes federal oversight of schools and doesn’t set any new, ambitious goals for the education system as the original law did."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g9i2JUkW
So, yes for once we have healthy bipartisanship. While the GOP seems to get a little hysterical about Common Core, if this is what has inspired them here then this obsession isn't all bad.
The really bad aspects of NCLB are gone in the Senate bill:
"The Senate bill would dump many of NCLB’s hallmark accountability provisions. The law’s mandate that schools that repeatedly miss their performance targets allow students to transfer to another school or face an overhaul would evaporate. So would the requirement that schools meet specific performance targets. The House bill also would return many decisions on how to set up so-called accountability for schools to the states, but it would still mandate annual tests and data reporting."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g9iceb6S
There is some difference among 'reform Democrats' and those who are listening more to the teacher unions.
"The White House has made clear it doesn’t think the Senate bill goes far enough to hold schools accountable for poor student performance. President Barack Obama wants to maintain aspects of the law that preserve federal oversight — meant to protect minority students and those from low-income families — provisions that are strongly opposed by teachers unions and many on the far left. Senate Democrats, led by Murray, set out to craft an amendment that would add many of those protections back into the law, but struggled to come up with an amendment that could please much of the party."
"Their goal wasn’t to pass an amendment but to draft a proposal that would get a strong showing of support in the chamber, signaling a commitment to White House priorities — and their ability to filibuster any deal down the line that doesn’t include them. And Democrats aren’t in lockstep on the issue: Reform-minded Democrats and teacher’s unions diverge on accountability. Ultimately, the country’s largest teacher’s union, the National Education Association, whipped aggressively against the proposal, which failed, though most Democrats stuck together."
"So the relatively glassy waters will get much choppier now."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g9je8a7P
The Senate worked very well on this I must say so some credit has to go to Mitch McConnell among others. For once he can say that the Senate is getting stuff done.
The Senate GOP decided against including the poison pill of vouchers in the bill. The House, of course, is a different matter.
It's bill got no Democratic support.
"The chamber defeated voucher proposals from Republicans that would have been deal-breakers for Democrats. It adopted modest changes aimed at curbing sexual assault at schools and encouraging workforce education."
"The current House and Senate bills would retain one of the law’s signature features: annual testing in reading and math. Both take big steps to beef up local control. They also reduce the education secretary’s power and streamline federal education programs."
"But the House bill includes a provision that is a no-go with the White House and Democrats: It would allow federal Title I dollars to follow low-income students to public schools of their choice. The Senate voted down similar amendments, including one offered by Alexander."
"Murray lashed out on Thursday at the House’s approach, saying the chamber will need to embrace the Senate’s bipartisan approach if the bill is ever going to become law."
“Their bill doesn’t represent one end while ours represents another, where we will have to meet in the middle,” Murray said about the House. “Their bill represents an unacceptable partisan path, while ours represents a carefully negotiated compromise.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g9kvGGBn
As noted above, this is the easy part and there is still the Senate-House conference. However, for once in a very long time, Congress is actually doing its job.
The rollback of one of the Bush's education legacy-No Child Left Behind which put way too much emphasis on student testing and teachers teaching to these tests.
Some of the worst features of it are going to be gone in a new Senate bill that passed in overwhelming numbers.
"Congress is finally on its way to rewriting the long-outdated — and widely hated — No Child Left Behind education law.
"The Senate on Thursday passed an update to the country’s overarching education law that greatly rolls back the federal say in thousands of public schools."
"The chamber, with a vote of 81-17, cleared its bill just a week after the House eked out passage of its proposed rewrite of the 2002 law, a victory it took Republican supporters months to achieve. Now the two chambers and the White House must negotiate a bill that can satisfy the president and House Republicans — who passed their bill with no Democratic support and under the threat of a veto."
"Unlike the original No Child Left Behind, which laid out the moonshot goal of all students eventually reading on grade level, the new Every Child Achieves Act is measured. It responds to widespread unrest about testing and the Common Core academic standards, diminishes federal oversight of schools and doesn’t set any new, ambitious goals for the education system as the original law did."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g9i2JUkW
So, yes for once we have healthy bipartisanship. While the GOP seems to get a little hysterical about Common Core, if this is what has inspired them here then this obsession isn't all bad.
The really bad aspects of NCLB are gone in the Senate bill:
"The Senate bill would dump many of NCLB’s hallmark accountability provisions. The law’s mandate that schools that repeatedly miss their performance targets allow students to transfer to another school or face an overhaul would evaporate. So would the requirement that schools meet specific performance targets. The House bill also would return many decisions on how to set up so-called accountability for schools to the states, but it would still mandate annual tests and data reporting."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g9iceb6S
There is some difference among 'reform Democrats' and those who are listening more to the teacher unions.
"The White House has made clear it doesn’t think the Senate bill goes far enough to hold schools accountable for poor student performance. President Barack Obama wants to maintain aspects of the law that preserve federal oversight — meant to protect minority students and those from low-income families — provisions that are strongly opposed by teachers unions and many on the far left. Senate Democrats, led by Murray, set out to craft an amendment that would add many of those protections back into the law, but struggled to come up with an amendment that could please much of the party."
"Their goal wasn’t to pass an amendment but to draft a proposal that would get a strong showing of support in the chamber, signaling a commitment to White House priorities — and their ability to filibuster any deal down the line that doesn’t include them. And Democrats aren’t in lockstep on the issue: Reform-minded Democrats and teacher’s unions diverge on accountability. Ultimately, the country’s largest teacher’s union, the National Education Association, whipped aggressively against the proposal, which failed, though most Democrats stuck together."
"So the relatively glassy waters will get much choppier now."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g9je8a7P
The Senate worked very well on this I must say so some credit has to go to Mitch McConnell among others. For once he can say that the Senate is getting stuff done.
The Senate GOP decided against including the poison pill of vouchers in the bill. The House, of course, is a different matter.
It's bill got no Democratic support.
"The chamber defeated voucher proposals from Republicans that would have been deal-breakers for Democrats. It adopted modest changes aimed at curbing sexual assault at schools and encouraging workforce education."
"The current House and Senate bills would retain one of the law’s signature features: annual testing in reading and math. Both take big steps to beef up local control. They also reduce the education secretary’s power and streamline federal education programs."
"But the House bill includes a provision that is a no-go with the White House and Democrats: It would allow federal Title I dollars to follow low-income students to public schools of their choice. The Senate voted down similar amendments, including one offered by Alexander."
"Murray lashed out on Thursday at the House’s approach, saying the chamber will need to embrace the Senate’s bipartisan approach if the bill is ever going to become law."
“Their bill doesn’t represent one end while ours represents another, where we will have to meet in the middle,” Murray said about the House. “Their bill represents an unacceptable partisan path, while ours represents a carefully negotiated compromise.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g9kvGGBn
As noted above, this is the easy part and there is still the Senate-House conference. However, for once in a very long time, Congress is actually doing its job.
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