Sweeping K-12 education bill passes House

Press Release

On a vote of 359-64, the House of Representatives just passed a bill that would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and replace the existing law known as No Child Left Behind. The bill will move states beyond the stringent, outdated policies of No Child Left Behind, help reduce the amount of testing in our nation's schools, and give more decision-making power back to states and districts.

House passage is one of the final steps in the process to update the nation's most sweeping K-12 law, which hasn't been done since 2001. The bill now goes to the Senate, where a vote is expected next week, and if it passes that chamber, will be sent to the President to be signed into law.

"Today's passage is a huge milestone for improving our country's public schools" Polis said. "Education is the single most powerful tool for creating opportunity and lifting people out of poverty. But our country's current education policy, No Child Left Behind, while well-intentioned, has been failing our students by imposing a one-size-fits-all flawed accountability system on states. The Every Student Succeeds Act -- while not perfect -- represents principled compromise that will move our education system forward. It reduces the emphasis on testing, provides greater flexibility for state accountability systems, and maintains ESEA's original intent as a civil rights law first and foremost.

"The Every Student Succeeds Act gives schools the flexibility they need to innovate and improve, but not the flexibility to do nothing and allow failing schools to continue to leave kids behind."

"Tackling big challenges like fixing No Child Left Behind is exactly what our constituents sent us to Washington to do and I'm proud to work across the aisle with my colleagues in the House to finally get this done," Polis added.

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