“The Every Student Succeeds Act that President Obama signed into law today is a major step forward in fixing the problems caused by No Child Left Behind, and providing America’s students with a fair, equal and advantageous education”, Sharpton said.
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On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved the legislation, called the Every Student Succeeds Act, by a 85-12 vote. He is flanked by Senators Lama Alexander, R-Tennessee, left, and Patty Murray, D-Washington, right, whom Obama praised for their bipartisan leadership in guiding the bill through Congress. He’s praising Republicans and Democrats for coming together to pass the long-awaited legislation. But he says in practice it fell short and used a cookie-cutter approach.
The program known as No Child Left Behind is being left behind and replaced by another program that aims at shifting power over to local districts and the state. In the new law, students will still have to be tested, but there will be flexibility in how states and school boards will administer the tests. Additionally, it encourages states to limit the amount of time kids spend taking standardized assessments.
“We know the early years can make a huge difference in a child’s life, so this law lays the foundation to expand access to high-quality preschools”, President Obama said. And he didn’t apologize for how Education Secretary Arne Duncan implemented it. “Sometimes, in the nicest possible way, he’s gotten on people’s nerves because he’s pushed them and prodded them”, Obama said.
Garrison believes her students will succeed more with this new law and is excited to see them excel. Burr said in a release that Congress had “the obligation to properly fund schools that need this funding the most”.
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Local educators say one of the biggest changes is most of the decisions made in terms of student achievement, the accountability is passed down to the States’ and the local school corporations. Testing will be one factor considered, but graduation rates and education atmosphere could also be factored in. Advocates of that change think it might allow teachers to focus on teaching without one eye on testing at all times. It requires schools to test 95% of students every year from the third through eighth grades, and again in high school.
