Why I voted Yes on H.R. 5

Statement

I voted "Yes" on H.R. 5, the Student Success Act.

This legislation, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replaces No Child Left Behind, empowers local school districts and parents while maintaining important programs that support students and local communities. It is clear that Washington's role in education must be measured and restrained, focused on raising standards through meaningful partnerships and flexible programming and not rigid mandates or imposing regulations. I supported H.R. 5 because it meets these principles.

The Student Success Act would require states to implement well-defined standards, but does not dictate what these standards must be, something which is reaffirmed by an amendment I supported to allow states to discontinue Common Core. It removes overreaching provisions that decide for states who qualifies as a highly-skilled teacher and leaves this important decision up to local educators themselves. It strengthens support for charter schools so that children have more options when it comes to their schooling, which has proven time and again to improve outcomes. Finally, it eliminates federal Academic Yearly Progress reports, which hamstring our teachers with federal high-stakes testing that does little to help our children learn in the classroom.

I do not support every provision in this bill. However, I believe on the whole it represents a win for local communities and parents and marks an important step in the ongoing process to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It provides the opportunity for every student to enter elementary school eager to learn and graduate secondary school ready to excel. I look forward to working with the Senate to improve this legislation in a final conference report so the President can sign this important law to finally replace the flawed "No Child Left Behind" law and one-size fits all mandates from the federal government such as "Common Core."

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