No Child Left Behind Rewrite Bill Update: Today is Crucial

I wanted to give you an update on the happenings surrounding ESEA reauthorizations.

First, remember that action is still needed. Call your U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative by calling (202) 224-3121.

Yesterday “debate” (if you can really call it that) on S.1177 ended when the Senate adjourned after 6p (ET). They will gavel in at 10:00a (ET) and vote on amendments to the Every Child Achieves Act.  I haven’t seen all of the amendments.  U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska) will offer an amendment that she said during debate will guarantee more local control.  I haven’t looked at it so I don’t know how strong it is.

I heard that U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will offer an amendment that will add A-PLUS language to the bill, which would block grant ESEA money to the states.  Lindsey Burke of the Heritage Foundation offered a report in 2013 on how A-PLUS can rein in the Fed’s education power grab.  Is it ideal? Well, no, no federal education bill is ideal.  Having A-PLUS language added to S.1177 would be the next best scenario from having the bill killed (well, third best… the best bill would be the one repealing ESEA altogether).

Also, I already gave her a shout-out on social media, but do check out and share Joy Pullmann’s piece on the Every Child Achieves Act over at The Federalist.  Also be to check out American Principles in Action’s breakdown of this awful bill.

Also in the legislative grapevine the House NCLB rewrite, The Student Success Act (H.R. 5), will be voted on today at either 1:30p or 4:30p (ET).  Via an email sent out from the House Rules Committee here are the amendments that will be offered.  Be sure to check out American Principles in Action’s analysis of this bill.

These are new amendments:

6	Version 2	Walker (NC),DeSantis (FL)	Republican	Revised Adds A-PLUS, which would send funding back to states in the form of block grants, giving states the ability to direct the funding to any education purpose under state law.
129	Version 1	Salmon, (AZ),	Republican	Late Allows parents to opt their student out of the testing required under this bill and exempts schools from including students that have opted out in the schools’ participation requirements.
132	Version 1	Polis (CO)	Democrat	Late Requires states to have college- and career-ready standards and set performance, growth, and graduation rate targets for all student subgroups.  The amendment also includes performance targets for English Language Learners and students with disabilities
134	Version1	Rokita (IN),Grothman (WI)	Republican	Late Sets the authorization from fiscal year 2016 through 2019

These are amendments that have been debated, but still need a vote.

#	Version	Sponsor(s)	Party	Summary
2	Version 1	Thompson, Bennie (MS)	Democrat	Requires that The Student Success Act shall not go into effect until the Secretary of Education determines that its enactment will not reduce the college and career readiness of racial or ethnic minority students, students with disabilities, English learners, and low-income students and provides written notification to Congress on such determination.
8	Version 1	Grayson (FL)	Democrat	Requires the Secretary of Education to conduct an assessment of the impact of school start times on student health, well-being, and performance.
23	Version 2	Scott, Bobby (VA)	Democrat	SUBSTITUTE Revised This amendment repeals H.R 5 and replaces the bill text with a substitute amendment that provides robust funding levels, replaces the outdated, rigid mandates of No Child Left Behind, and maintains civil rights and equity protections that ensure all students graduate from high school college- and career-ready.
24	Version 1	Meng (NY)and Polis (CO)	Democrat	Authorizes- but does not appropriate funds – for the Secretary of Education to provide grants for: early-childhood education scholarships, professional development and licensing credentials, or increased compensation for educators who have attained specific qualifications. Requires each state that desires a grant to include a description of its comprehensive early childhood professional development system in its application, and grant recipients must maintain their fiscal effort for the activities supported by the grant funds for a fiscal year at levels equal to or greater than their fiscal effort for such activities during the preceding fiscal year.
40	Version 1	Moore, Gwen (WI), Davis, Danny K. (IL), Wilson (FL)	Democrat	Delays implementation of new Title II formula until the Secretary of Education determines that the implementation will not reduce funding for schools serving high percentages of students in poverty.
50	Version 1	Wilson (FL)	Democrat	Provides for school dropout prevention and reentry and provides grants to raise academic achievement levels for all students.
54	Version 2	Carson (IN)	Democrat	Revised Advances assessments of student achievement and instructional practices, effective teacher preparation and continuing professional development, education administration, and international comparisons. The amendment supports development of a national research strategy to ensure that students, particularly at risk students, have effective teachers and are being prepared for the future.
62	Version 2	Loebsack (IA)	Democrat	Revised Supports the expansion of the use of digital learning through competitive grants to partnerships to implement and evaluate the results of technology-based learning practices, strategies, tools, or programs at rural schools.
106	Version 1	Brownley (CA)	Democrat	Creates a grant program for states to create or expand biliteracy seal programs to recognize student proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language for graduating high school seniors.
110	Version 2	Wilson (FL)	Democrat	Revised Provides for Intensive Care Reading Labs and for specialization of school staffing for the purposes of basic skills in language arts, mathematics, and science in grades 1-3 as allowable uses in block grant funding.
111	Version 1	Zeldin (NY)	Republican	Allows a State to withdraw from the Common Core Standards or any other specific standards.
114	Version 2	Hurd (TX)	Republican	Late Revised Expresses the sense of Congress that students’ personally identifiable information is important to protect as applied to current law and this act.