Student Success Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment.

Whenever I speak with teachers, principals, and parents back in West Virginia, a common theme that emerges from those conversations is that they acknowledge one size doesn't fit all. They want control restored to the State and local levels. The underlying bill makes great strides in returning that control to the people who know best how to educate our children and our grandchildren, not bureaucrats in Washington.

My colleagues, Mr. Reed and Mr. Owens, and I have offered an amendment to go even further in giving States that flexibility they seek. The amendment will allow States and local governments to take multiple measures into consideration.

Currently, No Child Left Behind uses narrow Federal mandates on testing to measure results. Testing may be just part of the solution, but States should be allowed to look at the ability of other benchmarks like graduation rates and the percentage of students taking advance courses.

This amendment has bipartisan support and is a commonsense way to improve the underlying bill. Local government and flexibility should trump Washington mandates.

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