President Obama And Congress Managed To Agree On Education Reform

With the stroke of a pen, President Obama leaves behind “No Child Left Behind” for the “Every Students Succeeds Act”.

Calling it a “Christmas miracle”, President Barack Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of the No Child Left Behind education law Thursday, ushering in a new approach to accountability, teacher evaluations and the way the most poorly performing schools are pushed to improve.

“In practice, it often fell short”.

State Supt. Brian Whiston, who was formerly at the helm of the Dearborn Public Schools, said Michigan Department of Education officials will need time to digest the new legislation.

President Barrack Obama signed a new bill replacing former U.S. President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act on Thursday.

Roby spent the last 2.5 years building support for the provisions, introducing the standalone Defending State Authority Over Education Act in May 2013 to end federal coercion of education policy.

For Texas students, that could mean less fear and worry over their standardized testing each year, a state assessment called the STAAR test. “And I can tell you that those lowest performing schools and our students most at risk will always be at the forefront”.

The new law still requires an annual test in grades three through eight and grade eleven.

“We’re having our discussions with Harrisburg instead of Washington, D.C. and I think that’s a step in the right direction”, said Old Forge School District Superintendent John Rushefski. The new law gets rid of numerous standardized testing requirements that had been in place under No Child Left Behind, and gives states more leeway in designing their own education standards. In the meantime, state leaders will be at the Capitol working to decide exactly how they’ll take advantage of this new liberty. High standards, accountability, closing the achievement gap, making sure every child is learning and not just some.

“I am very honored to participate in this historic moment and applaud Congress for this significant course correction, acknowledging that a decade’s worth of test-and-punish education policies have been a failure”, Montgomery said in a statement.