Miller Statement on Obama Administration NCLB Flexibility Announcement

Statement

U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, issued the following statement today after the Obama Administration announced that ten states would be granted flexibility from certain parts of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in exchange for adopting reforms that include college and career ready standards, new accountability, school improvement systems and meaningful teacher and school leader evaluations. The first ten states to receive the waivers are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

"I applaud President Obama and Secretary Duncan for giving schools the relief they so desperately need. And I applaud these chiefs who have stood up and said they want to and can meet a high bar for students in their state. This flexibility presents an opportunity to ensure our students are ready to compete not only for the jobs of today but also the jobs of tomorrow.

"What excites me most about this announcement is that these states aren't just running away from the one-size fits all approach of NCLB -- they are running towards a system that strikes the no-longer elusive balance between flexibility and accountability. We have clear evidence of what's possible -- that federal policy can provide flexibility without losing sight of the core values of equal opportunity in education.

"Now is not the time to go backwards or bend to the pressure of the status quo. Anyone who believes that setting high standards for educating our children is too much or too hard are the outliers to the mainstream of education reform. No matter what your beliefs are on NCLB, everyone agrees the law must change. There is a path forward. Now is the time for Congress to come together to get things done on behalf of all students. Democrats and Republicans working together is the only way forward for our nation's children, our economy and our national competitiveness."

Education Committee Republicans recently released two highly partisan draft pieces of legislation in place of a wholesale rewrite of NCLB. Those drafts did not live up to the nation's commitment to provide all children with a quality education and drew criticisms from a wide array of stakeholders. Unfortunately, this move likely means that the congressional rewrite of the law won't happen this year, and millions of schoolchildren, but for any adjustments the Administration can provide through state-requested waivers, will have to remain under the current broken system.

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