Obama signs education law rewrite shifting power to states

But not all conservatives agreed. This bipartisan provision creates a program for the goal of supporting and developing programs that provide Native Language Immersion opportunities for students at pre-K through postsecondary education levels.

While critics are scant, some believe the measure diminishes Washington’s role in public education too drastically. Bush spoke about his No Child Left Behind education bill. That law created a national system that judged schools based on math and reading test scores and required schools to raise scores every year or face escalating penalties.

“Whereas No Child Left Behind prescribed a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to struggling schools, this law offers the flexibility to find the best local solutions-while also ensuring that students are making progress”, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday at an event in Washington. “This is a great opportunity for parents, educators and school supporters to work together and provide the top-quality public education every child deserves”.

The measure also ends the waivers the Obama administration has given to more than 40 states — exemptions granted around the more onerous parts of No Child when it became clear that requirements such as having all students proficient in reading and math by 2014 would not be met.

“It’s important to say that while this was done because we have a Republican majority, it would not have happened without Democratic senators, especially Senator Murray”, he said.

But the question now is, what exactly are states and local school districts going to do that they couldn’t do before?

Bonamici says she has heard the criticisms and will watch how the law is implemented through the U.S. Department of Education, but feels accountability was at the forefront of legislators’ minds.

The likelihood of that sticking point disappearing is significant for Williams, who announced his resignation in October, as it would be one of the biggest issues left unresolved when he steps down January 1. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Every indication is the bill will become law.

Three of the presidential candidates missed the Senate vote – Republican Sens.

“I’m proud to sign a law that will make sure every student is prepared to succeed”, Obama said Thursday.

On Thursday, President Obama hailed the bipartisan effort to replace No Child Left Behind. “I think it’s good legislation that moves us in the right direction and gives states more autonomy to do what’s best for kids”, said state Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, D-Mukilteo, who serves on the House Education Committee. Since families on military bases and on Indian lands do not pay local property taxes, schools with a large percentage of these students wind up collecting less tax revenues.

The new law significantly reduces the legal authority of the education secretary, who is now legally barred from influencing state decisions about academic benchmarks, such as the Common Core State Standards, teacher evaluations and other policies.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, which passed the House of Representatives on December 2 and the Senate on December 9, eliminates federal mandates that have made testing the centerpiece of public education over the past 14 years and puts school ratings back under state control. Kirst is already scratching his head over one new requirement borrowed from the Obama administration’s waivers that states turn around their bottom 5 percent of schools.

– Ensure accountability by guaranteeing that when students fall behind, states redirect resources into what works to help them and their schools improve, with a particular focus on the very lowest-performing schools, high schools with high dropout rates, and schools with achievement gaps.

The bill is not flawless because it doesn’t “abolish testing”, Robison quipped, but he described it in largely positive terms.