Washington, D.C. — The House Education and the Workforce Committee voted today on the Student Success Act, H.R. 5, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA, currently known as No Child Left Behind. Cynthia G. Brown, Vice President for Education Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
Today the House Education and the Workforce Committee debated two very different visions for our nation’s school children. Chairman John Kline’s “Student Success Act” undermines the historic federal role in promoting equity and the achievement of all students. Under the guise of promoting local control, the House Majority proposal scales back the federal role in promoting student achievement that ensures all students have good teachers, and eliminates provisions that ensure states invest in education.
Meanwhile, Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA) and the House Minority are promoting a vision that aims to ensure that all students are prepared for college and careers, taught by effective teachers who are given support to improve, and have high expectations set for them by their school, district, and state.
Notably, the amendment offered by Rep. Miller also closes a longstanding loophole that allows districts to fund some schools inequitably. Students of color are being shortchanged across the country compared to their white peers, and approximately 40 percent of inequity in spending occurs within school districts. This important provision helps to ensure that districts make more equitable expenditures on low-income and minority students.
To speak with an expert on this topic, please contact Katie Peters at [email protected] or 202.741.6285.
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