Obama signs Every Students Succeeds Bill

President Obama called the bill a Christmas miracle, a real bipartisan bill that he got to sign. On the stage with him were Republican Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, and Sen.

Alexander was a chief author of the bill along with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the committee’s ranking member.

President Obama on Thursday signed a sweeping overhaul to the No Child Left Behind law that mandated aggressive federal involvement in the nation’s public schools over the last decade.

“The Every Student Succeeds Act will eliminate burdensome federal mandates set by the Department of Education without congressional approval and will provide each state with the flexibility to determine what works best for them”, he said. “We wrote this bill with help from people all across Colorado, and it brings us one step closer to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to receive a great education”.

The new bill will reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the federal law overseeing public education across the country.

Joined by lawmakers, students and teachers in a White House auditorium, Obama praised the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind for having the right goals.

“We had a Tennessee mindset in the development of the actual law, and I think that is beneficial to us as a state”, said True.

“The Every Student Succeeds Act would put education back in the hands of those who know our kids best: parents, teachers, states and school boards”, McConnell said.

“This will be a process involving multiple stakeholders, and require more than MDE’s input”, Whiston said in a statement.

The Every Student Succeeds Act should be a major improvement on No Child Left Behind.

The new act keeps some of the original policies, but notably shifts some power back to individual states and school districts and away from the federal government.

“Many provisions in the bill will directly benefit West Virginia’s almost 300,000 students, including funding for STEM programs and drug prevention education”.

Under ESSA some tests remain: 3rd through 8th graders test in Reading and Math and once in high school.

“Both parties have long-agreed that No Child Left Behind is broken and needs to be fixed”, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said.

Paul Salah, associate superintendent for educational services at the Wayne County Regional Educational Services Agency, said there will be many stakeholders who will give input to the state in changing the way that under-performing schools are assisted.