Sen Paul is one of 17 ‘nays’ on the recently passed Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 bill
In a Senate vote of 81-17 Thursday, S. 1177, the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 passed and will next go to the House of Representatives for consideration. It is a bipartisan educational policy reform bill that would expand state responsibility over schools, provide grants to charter schools, and reduce the federal test-based accountability system of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), according to the bill summary.
It reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that every child achieves.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was one of the 17 “nays” Thursday as he explains: “I believe education is the great equalizer, but Washington’s intrusion in the classroom leaves most kids behind. This bill is not the solution, as it retains some of No Child Left Behind’s biggest flaws – a lack of adequate parental choice, a federal testing mandate, and continued support for Common Core.”
The legislation will:
- End any federal mandates or incentives on Common Core – as well as any ability of the Education Secretary to control state standards.
- Keep No Child Left Behind’s 17 federal tests but will give states responsibility for creating accountability systems as well as responsibility for determining the weight of test results in assessing school performance.
- End the need for waivers from the law but also prohibit any Education Secretary from using waivers to mandate additional requirements for states or school districts.
- Help states expand their best charter schools, evaluate their teachers, fix their lowest-performing schools and address the fragmentation of early childhood education programs – but it does not mandate states do those things, nor prescribe how they do them.
The bill that oversees the distribution of $23 billion in federal dollars to states annually.
Other 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas also voted no. SC Senator Lindsey Graham did not vote.
photo caricature donkeyhotey/donkeyhotey.wordpress.com
