Skip to Content

Moving in the Right Direction

INFOGRAPHICS: Putting Parents and Education Leaders Back in Charge of K-12 Education

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 13, 2015

When it comes to K-12 education, Washington bureaucrats have woven a very tangled web of programs, mandates, and pet projects. Under No Child Left Behind, the Department of Education is a vast bureaucracy that:

  • Operates more than 80 programs tied to the nation’s classrooms – the majority of which are ineffective, duplicative, and unnecessary;
                         
  • Dictates how states and school districts gauge school performance, spend limited taxpayer dollars, and hire and fire teachers; and
                                                   
  • Coerces states to adopt preferred policies such as Common Core and school turnaround models through pet projects and a convoluted, conditional waiver scheme.

The infographic below illustrates how the current K-12 education system revolves around what Washington wants – not what parents and education leaders know their children need. 

               

It’s no wonder student achievement remains stagnant.  America’s students and families deserve better, and they deserve it now. Toward that end, leaders of the Committee on Education and the Workforce introduced the Student Success Act (H.R. 5). The legislation includes conservative reforms that will reduce the federal footprint, empower parents and education leaders, and restore state and local control of education. 

             

Because of these conservative reforms, the Student Success Act:

  • Eliminates dozens of ineffective, duplicative, and unnecessary programs and replaces a maze of programs with a Local Academic Flexible Grant, providing states the flexibility to invest in areas that best meet their children’s needs;
                                              
  • Restores state and local autonomy over accountability, spending, hiring, standards, curriculum, and assessments by repealing ineffective federal mandates and ending the administration’s controversial waiver scheme; and
                                                               
  • Prohibits any agent of the federal government – including the Secretary of Education – from coercing states into adopting Common Core.

It’s time to reject the Washington-knows-best approach and place power back in the hands of moms, dads, teachers, and administrators who can make the most meaningful, direct, and lasting impact in every child’s education. The Student Success Act will do just that.

To learn more about the Student Success Act, click here.

# # # 

Stay Connected