
Establishment Washington Republicans could not say enough this past week about how the 1,061-page Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reduces the federal government’s role in education and that it eliminates the fed’s coercion of states to stick with the unpopular Common Core standards. Perhaps most significant to these Republicans is that the bill was a self-proclaimed model of “bipartisanship.”
by Dr. Susan Berry12 Dec 2015, 11:41 AM PST0

The U.S. Senate approved the conference legislation known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a measure that – once signed into law by President Obama – will replace the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal law and will serve as the latest iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
by Dr. Susan Berry9 Dec 2015, 10:26 AM PST0

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio missed a Senate vote that advanced the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a conference bill that is poised to replace the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.
by Dr. Susan Berry8 Dec 2015, 2:35 PM PST0

Alexander, who chairs the Senate committee that oversees education, and ranking member Sen. Patty Murray, congratulated each other numerous times on the floor of the Senate for completing the 1,061-page “bipartisan” conference legislation, much of which was apparently crafted behind closed doors and passed by the House last week after having been published for review only two days earlier.
by Dr. Susan Berry8 Dec 2015, 11:21 AM PST0

Sen. Lamar Alexander’s final draft of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reauthorization bill is a 1,059-page piece of legislation that House and Senate education committees decided upon after several months of backroom deals and only two days of open “conference.”
by Dr. Susan Berry1 Dec 2015, 8:49 AM PST0

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reauthorization bill was approved by a conference committee – by a vote of 39-1 – after just several hours of “conference.” But the bill will not be published in final form for lawmakers and parents to read until November 30 – just two days before it is voted on in the House on December 2. As Indiana parent Indiana parent Erin Tuttle says, “House members will be forced to vote on a bill they haven’t read. The American people expected a new style of leadership under Speaker Ryan, not more of the same.”
by Dr. Susan Berry26 Nov 2015, 11:00 AM PST0

Many in the GOP reportedly refrained from voting until the last minute and some changed their votes under pressure from Republican leadership. Only one conservative amendment, introduced by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) was adopted, by a vote of 251-178, that would allow parents to opt their children out of standardized testing.
by Dr. Susan Berry8 Jul 2015, 5:32 PM PST0

It’s worth noting that in the half-century since the ESEA was passed as part of Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” billions of dollars have been spent – by both Democrat and Republican administrations – on education and so-called “helpful” programs for “disadvantaged” children, and yet Democrats are still fighting for more federal control and federal programs and subsidies in order to “close the achievement gap.”
by Dr. Susan Berry7 Jul 2015, 12:46 PM PST0

The House’s version of the redo, known as the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), was pulled from the House floor by GOP leadership in late February after it was determined the measure lacked sufficient support. Grassroots parents’ groups – many that have been fighting against the Common Core standards in their states – voiced their concerns that the Student Success Act still required excessive federal intrusion into the right of states to set their own education policies.
by Dr. Susan Berry6 Jul 2015, 9:01 AM PST0

Republican leaders seem poised to resume attempts to convince the conservative base of their party that the bill will reduce federal involvement in education and return it to the states and localities.
by Dr. Susan Berry13 Jun 2015, 6:14 AM PST0

Sen. Lamar Alexander’s (R-TN) rewritten draft legislation that would reauthorize No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will likely not allow Title I dollars for low-income children to follow them to schools of their choice, an outcome that would be a win for the Obama administration.
by Dr. Susan Berry7 Apr 2015, 8:30 AM PST0

House Republicans have withdrawn a controversial bill that would have reauthorized the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law after both conservatives and liberals came out against it.
by Dr. Susan Berry27 Feb 2015, 12:20 PM PST0

As expected, President Obama is threatening to veto a House Republican bill that would reform the No Child Left Behind law.
by Dr. Susan Berry25 Feb 2015, 10:40 AM PST0

The conservative Washington, D.C.-based American Principles in Action (APIA) is urging Congress to oppose the Strengthening Education Through Research Act (SETRA), which the group states would extend federal psychological profiling of children through increased research on “social and emotional learning.”
by Dr. Susan Berry24 Feb 2015, 5:53 AM PST0

Will the Republican-controlled Congress renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act’s (ESEA) and permanently lock states into federal control of education?
by Dr. Susan Berry11 Feb 2015, 6:44 PM PST0

As the debate heats up across the nation over the renewal of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), House Speaker John Boehner – writer of the original NCLB law – says he supports annual statewide testing, which also has the support of House Education Committee Chairman Rep. John Kline (R-MN).
by Dr. Susan Berry3 Feb 2015, 1:47 PM PST0