OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Providing for Consideration of H.R. 5, Student Success Act

Floor Speech

Date: July 18, 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Minors and Children K-12 Education

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady from North Carolina for her excellent work on this measure and all of the work she has done in committee. Dr. Foxx is such a skilled educator. We're pleased to have her in our conference. I know that Chairman Kline, who has really put a lot of effort into this bill, is so pleased to have her.

I do rise to support H.R. 5. This commonsense bill helps parents, teachers, and students. It will help prepare our children to compete in the global workforce. It helps to right the wrongs of our broken education system by bringing back flexibility to the system and encouraging more effective teaching and learning in our schools.

I have to tell you that as a mother and a grandmother, as a classroom volunteer and a homeroom mother for many years, I know how important it is for our children. And the reason that we are bringing this bill forward is because of concern and in preparing every child to compete.

I'm troubled by a recent report that says the U.S. ranked 18th out of 23 industrialized countries in the quality and quantity of high school diplomas. These are all items that need our attention. The feedback we have gotten through the years from No Child Left Behind's one-size-fits-all mandate does not work. People do not want these decisions being made in Washington. The Student Success Act would fix this by repealing the Federal accountability system and restoring much-needed local control. It would also stop the administration's act of coercing States through Race to the Top funds and into adopting specific national academic standards, otherwise known as Common Core. It would put an end to that.

H.R. 5 would reverse the Federal footprint in our education system by repealing the K-12 waiver schemes and the pet programs that have been put in place. This is the right step that we should take for our students for their success and educational opportunities.

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