Roe Statement on the Student Success Act

Statement

Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN) voted in support of H.R. 5, the Student Success Act. Roe released the following statement on the bill:

"The goal of increasing accountability within education under No Child Left Behind was a worthy one, but the reality of the law is that there is too much federal control and too many mandates put upon our states, our local school administrators, and our teachers.

"Our bill today makes needed reforms that will move us closer to our shared goal of ensuring every American child receives a quality education.

"Under the Student Success Act, we are giving states and school administrators the flexibility to meet the unique, local needs they understand far better than Washington bureaucrats.

"I've listened carefully to the concerns of teachers in Tennessee's First District, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that current accountability mechanisms undermine parents' confidence in their schools without providing any useful information. Today, we are eliminating "Adequate Yearly Progress.' a well-intentioned but unworkable accountability metric and repealing the Highly Qualified Teacher requirement in favor of state and local teacher evaluation systems. The effectiveness of a teacher should be judged by how well students learn, not by credentials hanging on a wall.

"Right now, there is a confusing web of overlapping programs, and we need to step back and ask, "Are these programs actually meeting the needs of students?' That's why we create a Local Academic Flexible Grant, which replaces 70 of these overlapping and often ineffective programs with one flexible pot of money to states. With this grant, states and school districts can help ensure local challenges are met.

"Because we have too many kids trapped in failing school districts, this bill strengthens charter schools, which have become a viable education option for thousands of hardworking students without other options.

"Finally, in recent years, the Administration has been able to coerce states into adopting reforms using what is known as the Common Core Standards Initiative by offering waivers from current law. Many are concerned Common Core could become the foundation for a national curriculum. This bill will prevent states from being required to adopt Common Core and ensures that states will be able to choose which reforms they want to enact.

"Today, we've taken a meaningful step towards local control by passing the Student Success Act."

Source