Moving in the Right Direction

Parents play a critical role in helping to ensure their children receive a quality education. Unfortunately, under current federal law, teachers and state and local education leaders are bound by what Washington wants, not by what parents know their children need. The House-Senate proposal to replace No Child Left Behind rejects the Washington-knows-best approach to education and empowers those who can make the most meaningful, direct, and lasting impact in a child’s life: parents. The bicameral framework:

• Provides parents transparency about local school performance so they have the information they need to hold their schools accountable and do what’s best for their child’s education.

• Expands educational options for parents and children by reforming the Charter School Program to support the expansion and replication of high-quality charter schools.

• Encourages the development and implementation of innovative education methods by strengthening the current magnet school program, which increases choices in public education.

• Protects the autonomy of religious schools, private schools, and home schools by ensuring those schools are free from federal interference.

• Ensures low-income students attending private schools continue to receive their share of federal services, such as math tutoring.

• Provides support for dual-enrollment programs so that parents have the option to enroll their children in college-level classes while they work toward their diploma.

As the National PTA executive director Nathan R. Monell said in support of the bicameral proposal to replace No Child Left Behind,

The Every Student Succeeds Act is an improvement over current law. National PTA commends Congress for providing greater flexibility to states and districts to meet the needs of all students and acknowledging the essential role of family engagement to student achievement and meaningful school improvement efforts … While we have reached a critical point, it is essential that Congress get the bill to the president’s desk before the end of the year to provide certainty to families, educators and schools.

The House-Senate proposal empowers parents with the information and choices they need to help ensure their children receive a quality education.

To read the final bill, click here.

To learn more, visit republicans-edlabor.house.gov/k12education.

Read more:

• Advancing Republican Principles: K-12 Education Reform
• Prohibiting Federal Involvement in Common Core
• Restoring Local Control of K-12 Education
• Reducing the Federal Bureaucracy
• Ready to Rein in the Education Secretary
• Rep. Foxx: Replace NCLB to Improve Education, Empower Parents
• In Case You Missed It: WSJ: No Child Left Behind’s Successor
• “A Major Transfer of Power and Authority over Public Schools”

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