Ending Washington's Burdensome Approach to our Children's Education

Press Release

U.S. Representative Candice Miller (MI-10) today released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, which reforms federal K-12 education law and restores states and districts' control over their schools. In addition, the Student Success Act ends the federal government's burdensome overreach practice of coercing states to participate in the Common Core program in order to receive certain federal education grants. The federal government to date has no authority over Common Core program participation in federal law, and this practice has never been debated in Congress. The Student Success Act will put control of our children's education back in the hands of parents, and state and local leaders. Rep. Miller said:

"Strengthening our children's education and ensuring they have the tools to achieve success is of paramount importance. Today, the House furthered our commitment to empowering state's education system by passing the Student Success Act and ending Washington's burdensome federal approach over our nation's schools. This legislation reverses the trend of Washington knows best, and ensures decisions of our children's education is back in the hands of the states, local districts, teachers and most importantly parents.

"The Student Success Act further restores local control and puts in place mandatory safeguards to protect against Washington's overreach by prohibiting the Administration from placing conditions on states and school districts, such as meeting Common Core standards, in exchange for waivers or federal grant funds. The federal government should not be acting as a dictator or coercing states to tailor their education standards in exchange for funding. Those decisions must remain within the state and with a vigorous debate about how to best educate their own children.

"The Student Success Act is a long overdue step to move the power over our children's education out of Washington and back where it belongs. We must prioritize states, our schools, our teachers and parents' decisions when it comes to educating America's children."

Background - The Student Success Act:
* Eliminates the one-size-fits-all federal accountability system and instead calls on each state to develop and implement a tailored approach that more accurately evaluates student achievement.

* Frees each state to implement improvement strategies to raise the bar on low-performing schools.

* Upholds high standards for student achievement. Schools must continue to disaggregate data to identify and help close student achievement gaps.

* Repeals arbitrary federal funding requirements that restrict states' ability to prioritize funding to the most effective initiatives.

* Grants school districts the freedom to distribute federal funds based on the needs of their own student populations, allowing superintendents and principals to target federal funds to support a better classroom experience.

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