The Senate Debate on Lee’s Opt Out Amendment
In the House version of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, the Student Success Act (SSA), parental opt-out is written into the legislation, bypassing any state positions on the issue:
(2) ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS.—(B) REQUIREMENTS.—Such assessments shall—‘‘(xiii) be administered to not less than 95 percent of all students, and not less than 95 percent of each subgroup of students described in paragraph 18 (3)(B)(ii)(II), except that States shall allow the parent of a student to opt such student out of the assessments required under this paragraph for any reason and shall not include such students in calculating the participation rate under this clause…. (pg 31)
The Senate version of the ESEA reauthorization chaired by Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray, the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA) of 2015, does not have a blanket opt-out amendment as does the House’s SSA. However, Senator Mike Lee’s amendment 2162 was an attempt to include a blanket opt-out statement in ECAA.
On July 14, 2015, Lee’s amendment 2162 was rejected by a vote of 32-64.
In this post, I will present the text of the few minutes of debate allowed prior to the roll call vote on amendment 2162. Senator Lee spoke first, for about a minute; then, Senators Alexander and Murray spoke for a combined couple of minutes. The video is available here; amendment 2162 debate begins at the 06:29:27 mark.
Lee: Mr. President, my amendment (2162) would clarify that parents, not the federal government, are the primary educators of their children. It would ensure that parents may allow their children to opt out of federally-mandated tests. Now, the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. Alexander, is right that states should be free to make their own tests mandatory if they so choose. However, that is not what this bill (ECAA) allows. This bill mandates that states give these tests and requires them to get the content of such tests approved by the US secretary of education.My amendment is silent on the question of state tests. It simply clarifies that the tests mandated by this bill– mandated by this Congress– are in factThe Senate Debate on Lee’s Opt Out Amendment | deutsch29: