BIPARTISAN NCLB FIX PASSES SENATE COMMITTEE: Murray Calls for Continued Bipartisan Work to Move Bill Through Senate, Get Signed into Law
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Murray: “I am hopeful that we can keep this momentum going and get this done.”
Bipartisan agreement unanimously passes HELP Committee, moves to Senate floor
Murray amendments passed through committee with strong bipartisan support
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, the bipartisan compromise reached by Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) and Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to rewrite the broken No Child Left Behind law. The legislation passed unanimously through the HELP Committee and now moves to the Senate floor. Following the vote, Senator Murray released the following statement:
“Today’s vote was another positive step toward fixing the badly broken No Child Left Behind law and ensuring that all students have the opportunity to learn, no matter where they live, how they learn, or how much money their parents make—and now I am hopeful that we can keep this momentum going and get this done.
“I am very pleased with the bipartisan process in committee, which allowed us to build on and improve the starting point that Chairman Alexander and I agreed to work from. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to continue to strengthen and improve this legislation on the Senate floor and as we work toward getting this signed into law.
“Working through this process in a bipartisan way from start to finish is the best chance we have to fix this broken law, so I appreciate Chairman Alexander’s hard work, dedication, and willingness to work with me—and I look forward to continuing our bipartisan work to get this across the finish line.”
During the markup, three amendments offered by Senator Murray passed with strong bipartisan support: an amendment to help ensure that military-connected children are succeeding in school, an amendment to help schools and communities in the aftermath of violent or traumatic events, and an amendment to improve and expand early learning programs.
Alexander: Unanimous Committee Passage of Bipartisan Agreement to Fix No Child Left Behind Shows Consensus on Urgent Need to Fix the Law and How to Fix It
Says “if senators were students in a classroom, none of us would expect to receive a passing grade for unfinished work—7 years is long enough to consider how to fix No Child Left Behind”
Thursday, April 16, 2015Margaret Atkinson / Jim Jeffries 202-224-2465
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“The consensus that the committee found is the same that Senator Murray and I found. That consensus is this: Continue the law’s important measurements of academic progress of students but restore to states, school districts, classroom teachers and parents the responsibility for deciding what to do about improving student achievement.” – Lamar Alexander
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 16 – Senate education committee chairman Lamar Alexander(R-Tenn.) today praised the work of the committee in acting on the bipartisan agreement to fix No Child Left Behind. After three days of amendment and debate, the committee voted unanimously to send the bill to the full Senate.
Alexander said: “If senators were students in a classroom, none of us would expect to receive a passing grade for unfinished work. Seven years is long enough to consider how to fix No Child Left Behind. The committee considered 57 amendments, approved 29, and improved the bipartisan agreement Ranking Member Murray and I reached—but the consensus that the committee found is the same that Senator Murray and I found. That consensus is this: Continue the law’s important measurements of academic progress of students but restore to states, school districts, classroom teachers and parents the responsibility for deciding what to do about improving student achievement.
“I thank Ranking Member Murray for her hard work and her commitment to getting a result, and I look forward to working with her as this moves to the Senate floor. Now the bill is ready to be taken up by the full Senate with the same opportunity for amendment, discussion, and debate.”
Last week Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) announced a bipartisan agreement on fixing “No Child Left Behind.” The senators’ legislative agreement, the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the chief law governing the federal role in K-12 education. The most recent reauthorization of ESEA was the “No Child Left Behind Act,” which was enacted in 2001 and expired in 2007.
Click here to read Senator Alexander’s opening statement at the start of Tuesday’s committee action on the agreement.
Executive Session - S.___ Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, S.___ WIOA Technical Amendments Act, and Nominations
Date:
Thursday, April 16 2015, 12:30 PM
Place:
216 Hart Senate Office Building
Agendareturn to top
• S. ____ Every Child Achieves Act of 2015
• S. ____ WIOA Technical Amendments Act
• Nomination of Ericka Miller, Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.
• Nomination of Michael Yudin, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education.
• Any additional nominations cleared for action
Archive video
April 14: Click Here
April 15 Morning Session: Click Here
April 15 Afternoon Session: Click Here
