Senate OKs revised No Child education law, compromise needed

Ohio’s two US senators were successful in holding off an amendment to the education bill passed Thursday that might have cost Ohio schools $70 million aimed at programs for low-income students.

The most ambitious aspect this go-round is simply to get a bill signed. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-District16) voted against it. He said that by eliminating federal requirements, the bill prevents under-performing schools from working with the government to develop action plans that will improve student success. On Thursday, the Senate passed a bipartisan measure to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act-which was last revamped with NCLB in 2001. The tutors that the law requires underperforming schools to pay for have proven to be largely ineffective.

While it had the support of nearly all Democrats, three voted against it: Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, New Jersey’s Cory Booker and Chris Murphy of Connecticut. It would strictly prohibit the U.S. Department of Education from dictating to states what standards to adopt, what accountability systems to implement, or how to identify schools or teachers that need improvement. The U.S. House and Senate bills will leave the testing in place, but they take away the federal government’s power to punish failing schools.

Leslie Proll, director of the Washington, D.C., office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the bill undermines the intent of the original federal education law passed in 1965.

He said particularly troubling was the blank check in the Senate bill, where Mr. Alexander and Sen.

Cassidy said he’s pleased that the Senate bill creates a comprehensive center to develop free or low-priced evidence-based assessment tools for students struggling with reading, including those with dyslexia.

“Without these fixes … to ensure data transparency and preserving the oversight authority of the secretary of education, this bill will not serve all children in all schools”, said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which urged senators to vote against the bill. States may also include other measures of student and school performance in their accountability systems in order to provide teachers, parents, and other stakeholders with a more accurate determination of school performance. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat who worked with Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., to shepherd the Senate bill to passage.

About 100 amendments were considered during the Senate’s two-week debate of the bill. “More must be done to address the needs of historically disadvantaged children, but this bill offers a significant piece of the puzzle”.

When Barack Obama first ran for president, he promised to replace NCLB.

Education reform is front and center in congress this week.

“This issue is going to be the priority for the president heading into conference negotiations”, said Sen. “We want to lay down a marker for what we think is ultimately a fair compromise”. The Senate voted down Cruz’s amendment. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), whose amendment on opting out was adopted by the chamber.