Calling it a bipartisan “Christmas miracle,” President Obama signed into law Thursday an overhaul of federal education law that gives states more authority to evaluate standardized test results, and retreats from the Common Core standards that the administration has embraced.
“This is a big step in the right direction, a true bipartisan effort,” Mr. Obama said at the rare bill signing ceremony at the White House. On the stage with him were Republican Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, and Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the top Senate Republican negotiator of the bill.
There were joined on stage by their Democratic colleagues on their committees, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state and Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 85-12 to approve the Every Student Succeeds Act, a rewriting of the landmark No Child Left Behind education law of 2002.
Public school students will still be required to take statewide reading and math exams. But the new law encourages states to limit the time students spend on testing, and it will diminish the high stakes for underperforming schools.
The bill keeps federal math and reading standards in place but prohibits Washington from pushing specific standards on states as preconditions for federal funding — a provision directly aimed at Common Core, a set of standards that conservatives hold up as an example of federal overreach.
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The law does not go as far as many conservatives hoped in boosting school choice, but Republican leaders said they had to make compromises to win support of Democrats.
Mr. Obama said there were “significant ideological differences” during the negotiations, but the result was “a good example of how bipartisanship can work.”
The president said the law “creates real partnerships between the states, which will have new flexibility to tailor their improvement plans, and the federal government, which will have the oversight to make sure that the plans are sound.
“It helps states and districts reduce unnecessary standardized tests,” he said, adding that it will allow teachers to spend more time on student learning while “making sure that parents and teachers have clear information on their children’s academic performance.”
Mr. Kline said classrooms nationwide “will no longer be micromanaged by the U.S. Department of Education.”
“Instead, parents, teachers, and state and local education leaders will regain control of their schools, and children will have a better shot at receiving a great education,” he said.
SEE ALSO: Senate passes rewrite of No Child Left Behind law
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten called the measure “a new day in public education.”
“For nearly 15 years, we’ve been treading water as top-down, test-and-sanction-based reforms failed to help all kids succeed,” she said. “This law will usher in the most sweeping, positive changes to public education we’ve seen in two decades. This is the reset we’ve been fighting for in federal education policy.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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