The Senate passed its version of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law Thursday by a vote of 81-17. The approval of the Every Child Achieves Act now sends the measure to a conference with the House’s bill, which passed that chamber last week.
The Senate voted to end debate on the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA) Wednesday, 86-12, allowing for a final vote on Thursday on the measure that is that chamber’s version of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law.
Senator Lamar Alexander falsely claims his No Child Left Behind Reauthorization bill, labeled the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA), will rein in the federal government. Like its House counterpart, ECAA has superficial “prohibitions” on what the U.S. Secretary of Education may do. Those prohibitions merely replicate existing prohibitions and, in any event, lack any kind of enforcement mechanism for the states.
It’s worth noting that in the half-century since the ESEA was passed as part of Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” billions of dollars have been spent – by both Democrat and Republican administrations – on education and so-called “helpful” programs for “disadvantaged” children, and yet Democrats are still fighting for more federal control and federal programs and subsidies in order to “close the achievement gap.”
The House’s version of the redo, known as the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), was pulled from the House floor by GOP leadership in late February after it was determined the measure lacked sufficient support. Grassroots parents’ groups – many that have been fighting against the Common Core standards in their states – voiced their concerns that the Student Success Act still required excessive federal intrusion into the right of states to set their own education policies.
Republican leaders seem poised to resume attempts to convince the conservative base of their party that the bill will reduce federal involvement in education and return it to the states and localities.
