President Obama gives power back to states with new education act

But one key feature remains: Students will still take federally required statewide reading and math exams.

The new law will dismantle the federal test-and-punish accountability system that was built on the premise that standardized test scores were the best performance yardstick for schools and teachers. That’s instead of Washington mandating what critics had dubbed a one-size-fits-all approach to governing the country’s 100,000 public schools.

Alexander was a chief author of the bill along with Sen.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. talks with Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee member Sen.

This new law gives power to the states. It will also establish new resources to test promising practices and replicate proven strategies that will drive opportunity and better outcomes for students.

“The problem we ran into was high-stakes testing”. States will intervene in schools performing at the bottom 5% or high schools with graduation rates below 67%.

Don’t start applauding yet, kids. Some decisions made about education in the nation’s capital will now be left to local officials.

No more Common Core – maybe.

Calling a bipartisan bill signing a “Christmas miracle”, President Barack Obama wasted no time signing the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, titled the Every Student Succeeds Act, which the Senate had overwhelming approved less than 24 hours earlier. While making no mention of the controversial Common Core standards, the legislation calls for establishing college- and career-ready standards for students to be incentivized with additional Race to the Top grants.

Already some states have begun backing away from the standards. The bill, which effectively replaces the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, would give states additional tools to improve low-performing schools.

Parents also will be able to see how per-pupil funding breaks down by state, district and school.

It’s now up to the states.

The bipartisan compromise will return states the authority to decide how to use students’ test scores in assessing teachers and schools. He said the goals of NCLF were the right ones – high standards, accountability and closing the achievement gap – but they fell short, not considering individual needs and implementing too much testing.

“My hope is that our legislature recognizes local control is important and puts the emphasis of school improvement back in the hands of teachers in the classroom, local school boards and district leadership”, said Norman Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joseph Siano.