Engel Votes Against Partisan Bill to Cripple Public Education

Press Release

Congressman Eliot Engel's (D-NY-16) voted against the partisan House Republican bill that would make the outdated No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education policy even worse. Rep. Engel has long called for a rewrite of the nation's education policy, and ending the flawed NCLB.

The Republican bill, passed with a party line vote, would actually make matters worse. It is opposed by a vast cross-section of business, labor, civil rights, disability, and education groups.

- It fails to guarantee that all students have access to top level, adequate-funded educational opportunities.
- It locks in devastating sequester cuts to education funding, and disproportionately moves funding away from the schools with the highest level of poverty. It also removes requirements for states and districts to adequately fund all of their schools.
Greater use of block grants, which is a ploy to further reduce funding.
- It allows schools to lower their standards for educating children.
- It does not demand high standards from students in return for their education.

"For all of its problems, NCLB was a bipartisan effort by President Bush, Speaker John Boehner and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. It passed with the best intentions, but failed to live up to its lofty expectations. It's time has gone, and it requires an equally bipartisan rewrite to move our public education system to where our students can compete globally. NCLB began the process by identifying many of the problems, but placed too much emphasis on standardized testing, then grossly underfunded any assistance for states to meet these requirements. The flaw in thislogic is that a standard solution fits every school in the same manner. As a result schools are punished for failing to reach artificial benchmarks, thus making it more difficult for them to improve their educating of young Americans," said Rep. Engel, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"Accountability is missing from the Republican bill. Schools are not expected to improve and students will not be served equitably. It removes requirements to improve achievement for English Language Learners, and separates the standards and assessments for students with disabilities from the rest of the student body. By placing such programs as Title 1 and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) into block grants, it leads to funding being cut for those students in the most need -- and that is just wrong. It has loopholes which allow districts to underfund low-income schools and transfer that money to the more wealthy ones. The bottom line -- it fits with the far-right Tea Party agenda of dismantling our public school system through repeated slashes in funding and in accountability," said Rep. Engel.

He added, "The need to provide a strong education for our children should be something which blurs the line between the parties. I am disappointed to see that the current hyper-partisan political climate in Washington has not produced such produced such agreement. For America to compete, we must have a Grade A education system. As a former teacher, I understand how important this is for our children, for our families, and for our country."

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