Senate Passes Landmark Overhaul of Federal Education Law

Press Release

The U.S. Senate has passed landmark legislation overhauling federal education policy for elementary and secondary schools. The Every Child Achieves Act, which passed by a vote of 81-17, eliminates the one-size-fits-all provisions of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law that placed too much emphasis on standardized test results and pressured teachers to "teach to the test." Instead, the bill allows communities, parents, and teachers to work together to improve schools using a variety of strategies that make sense for students.

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) played a key role in crafting the bill as a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Throughout the drafting process, he conducted extensive outreach to Rhode Island teachers, reformers, students, school administrators, and union officials to solicit feedback and ideas. The final bill passed today includes a number of provisions crafted by Whitehouse to respond to their needs and concerns.

"As I listened to Rhode Islanders on this issue, I heard the same things over and over again: we need to protect federal funding for local districts, give more control to teachers and local officials to design education plans, and get rid of high-stakes testing that has harmed students and teachers by placing far too much emphasis on test scores," Whitehouse said. "I'm proud that the bill we passed today addresses these concerns. Our core goal is to provide all of our kids with the best possible education, and I'm confident that the changes made by this bill will result in real improvements in our schools."

Under the Every Child Achieves Act, annual testing will remain in place for students in grades 3 through 8, and students will also be tested once during high school. However, school funding and improvement strategies will no longer be tied strictly to test outcomes. Instead, states and local districts will be empowered to consider a range of factors, including graduation rates, how many students are taking AP classes, incidents of violence and bullying, and even working conditions for teachers.

"Less classroom time spent on this frantic test preparation for the high-stakes exams means more time actually learning," Whitehouse pointed out in a speech earlier this week.

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