ICYMI: Outdated mandates fail our students
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
June 13, 2011
Outdated mandates fail our students By Rep. John Kline (R-MN) Since the beginning of this Congress, the House Education and the Workforce Committee has held several hearings and roundtables to examine the state of education in America. We’ve talked with superintendents, teachers, school officials and parents to get their perspectives on the challenges facing students and communities. Through all this, we came back to one sad fact: Children in America are being shortchanged. Teachers and administrators are bogged down with burdensome, outdated mandates. Budgetary shortfalls and strict regulations have made it difficult for schools to prioritize funding streams for the most effective initiatives. Parents are rightly frustrated with the state of their children’s underperforming public schools. There is a better way. The committee has begun advancing a series of reforms to fix the nation’s education system. Improving our schools starts with recognizing, as is often the case, that Washington is part of the problem. That’s why we’ve started with legislation to streamline and simplify the federal role in education. The Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act would eliminate more than 40 wasteful, duplicative or just plain unnecessary programs tied to K-12 classrooms. This legislation takes an important first step, but more must be done to ensure all students have access to a quality education. Over the coming months, we will move forward with proposals to address other areas for improvement. Our top priorities include: Encouraging Funding Flexibility Every federal K-12 education program is bundled with a separate set of eligibility requirements, reporting regulations and strict rules dictating exactly how program funds may be spent. These overwhelming regulations can severely limit the ability of states and school districts to apply federal dollars to initiatives that best serve students’ needs. To address this issue, the committee is working on legislation to provide maximum flexibility in the use of federal education funds. Our proposal would allow states and school districts to transfer formula funds received under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and through the Education Jobs Fund program between select initiatives to fulfill local education priorities. If a school determines resources are better spent on reading or new technologies, it should be free to adjust its budget to reflect the reality of its classrooms. Promoting Parental Choice Through High-Quality Charter Schools Charter schools can be a beacon of hope for parents of children trapped in underperforming schools. The innovative institutions embody two key principles American families want to see in the nation’s education system: choice and flexibility. |