Senate panel approves bipartisan K-12 education bill

Senate panel approves bipartisan K-12 education bill:

Senate panel approves bipartisan K-12 education bill

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan education bill to replace the controversial No Child Left Behind law and reduce the federal government's power over schools cleared its first big hurdle Thursday.

The Every Child Succeeds Act, from Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., was approved by a vote of 22-0 by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee after three days of debate and the adoption of nearly 30 amendments.

Supporters said the bill would "fix" the No Child Left Behind law that governs the nation's approximately 100,000 K-12 public schools.

Critics say that law - signed by President George W. Bush in 2002 - placed too much emphasis on judging and punishing schools based on student test scores and gave the federal government too big a role in deciding how best to improve local schools. The law expired in 2007, but states still have to abide by its requirements until a new law replaces it.

"I believe that working through this process in a bipartisan way from the start is the best chance we've got at fixing this broken law," said Murray, the senior Democrat on the education committee. "It helps make sure that all students get the opportunity to learn, no matter where they live, how they learn, or how much money their parents make."

The Every Child Achieves Act would still require students to take standardized tests, including two per year in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and one during high school. It also would require students to take a total of three science tests between grades 3 and 12.

However, the federal government could no longer use those test scores to punish "failing" schools that do not meet achievement goals. Failing schools that receive federal funds for low-income children are required by No Child Left Behind to offer students the option of attending a different school and must pay for students' transportation therel. Escalating sanctions include replacing a school's entire faculty or having a private company take over and run the school.

The Alexander-Murray bill would allow states to decide how much weight to give test scores as they create their own state accountability systems. States would be allowed to include other measures of student and school performance to give teachers, parents and the public a more accurate picture of how well a school is doing.

"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," said Alexander, chairman of the education committee. "This change should produce fewer tests and more appropriate ways to measure student achievement."

 The House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed its own rewrite of the No Child Left Behind law earlier this year but House leaders pulled it from the floor in late February before members had a chance to vote on it. Conservatives said theStudent Success Act did not go far enough to limit the federal government's role in education, and House leaders were worried they didn't have enough votes to pass the bill.

The White House said it was encouraged by the Alexander-Murray bill, but stopped short of endorsing it.

"(The) announcement from Senator Alexander and Senator Murray is an important step in their bipartisan effort to replace the No Child Left Behind Act," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said last week. "As Congress continues its work, President Obama will continue to insist on providing our schools with greater flexibility to invest in what works, making sure that teachers aren't confined to teaching to the test, putting resources behind innovation in our education system, and expanding opportunities for America's children to attend high-quality preschools."

The National School Boards Association called the bill "a welcome sign of progress."

"The (bill) acknowledges and reaffirms local-level decision making in public education," Executive Director Thomas Gentzel wrote Monday in a letter to Alexander and Murray. 

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten called the bill an "important first step."

"It moves away from the increasingly counterproductive focus on sanctions, high-stakes tests, federalized teacher evaluations and school closings," she said. "And it will help return the joy of teaching and learning that's been missing as a result of testing and test-prep fixation in too many classrooms."

The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union, was more cautious.

"We will review the bill with a fine-tooth comb looking for language that ushers in a new vision for our nation's students and public schools; a vision that promotes equity and excellence for all students regardless of the zip code in which they live," said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García.Senate panel approves bipartisan K-12 education bill: