This summer, parents across the country are preparing their children for the coming school year. Whether unwinding on a family break, purchasing school supplies, returning summer reading books to the library, or finishing summer camp, it’s almost time to go back to school. We owe so much to our nation’s hardworking educators. They are the role models for our children, providing invaluable life lessons that go well beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Before my time in the Nebraska Legislature, I served on my local school board, the Nebraska School Finance Review Committee, and as president of the Nebraska Association of School Boards. These experiences helped shape my views on education, both as a state lawmaker and in the U.S. Senate. Nebraska is truly fortunate to have excellent schools.
In early 2002, an education bill known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was signed into law. This was the most comprehensive education reform since the 1960s. But since the law’s enactment, it has become more and more evident that NCLB is a failed policy. In Nebraska, we have seen this firsthand, especially with regard to the law’s impact on student testing.
Before NCLB, Nebraska measured student progress with the “School-based Tech-led Assessment and Reporting System,” referred to as STARS. In many Nebraska communities, tests were designed locally by teachers with the support of administrators, school boards, and local communities. The results were reported to the state to ensure the highest quality. By engaging classroom educators in the process, the quality of the tests remained high and teachers were able to use them to improve student learning. But with the advent of NCLB, our state was forced to make a tough choice: either adopt a statewide test or lose federal funding to implement the NCLB mandates.
Federal policies should enhance the classroom experience, provide essential resources, and help place our students on the path to bright futures. For these reasons, the Senate began debate this month on an education reform bill that would end the broken NCLB policy. The bipartisan bill, known as the Every Child Achieves Act, would restore local control of our children’s education to the people who are closest to our students – parents, teachers, school boards, and communities.
NCLB policy caused over-testing and forced teachers to “teach to the test” rather than provide students with the knowledge and tools they need. By ending the federal test-based accountability system, the Every Child Achieves Act can give states the ability to determine how to use federally required tests for accountability purposes. It would end the Common Core mandate by affirming that states can determine what academic standards they will adopt without interference from Washington. In addition, it would prevent the federal government from forcing states to implement any particular set of education standards.
While this bill is an effective tool in reforming our education standards, I’m going further to target misguided requirements. In 2011, the Department of Education announced a waiver program to provide states with more flexibility. But these waivers require states to comply with even more federal mandates. Washington is unilaterally deciding how our states and communities should improve their students’ education. To stop this, I worked with Senators Angus King of Maine and Jon Tester of Montana to introduce and pass an amendment that will ensure our local stakeholders have a stronger voice in both the regulatory and guidance processes. By doing so, we can restore authority back to our communities.
These changes are long overdue. I will continue my efforts to ensure that education decisions are made at home, not in Washington.
Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.
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