GOP House Approves Education Bill that Lets Students Down
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republicans voted today to advance legislation that lets our students down and takes American education backwards. H.R. 5, the Letting Students Down Act, walks away from our nation’s civil rights responsibility to ensure all children have access to a quality education. Unlike previous reauthorizations of ESEA, H.R. 5 passed the House without any bipartisan support.
“NCLB is very much the education reform of the past. It is inflexible. It encouraged some states to lower their standards. That’s why it’s time to rewrite this law – to embrace the principle that all students can learn if given the opportunity and to encourage high standards that meet the needs of a 21st century global economy,” said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “Unfortunately, H.R. 5 moves our education system in the wrong direction for students and schools already struggling under a broken system. It lets American kids down at a critical time.”
H.R. 5 locks-in post-sequestration funding for education, not even allowing for adjustments for inflation. It fails to hold states, districts and schools accountable for supporting and improving the achievement of all students, putting educational opportunities for low-income students, English language learners, and other disadvantaged students at risk. The bill passed by the Republican majority today allows for states to teach students with disabilities to different, lower standards. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities this would “dramatically alter the academic landscape for students with disabilities, jeopardizing their ability to graduate from high school, go to college and obtain employment.”
“We can't shortchange our nation's future by shortchanging our kids -- we need to pass a better education bill in Washington. The majority's ESEA bill lacks the funding and accountability that America's youth need to get a world-class education and compete in a global economy,” said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), the senior Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Rep. Miller offered an amendment that would replace H.R. 5 and update current law. Unlike H.R. 5, Rep. Miller’s amendment would provide significant funding levels for education, maintain accountability protections for students, preserve dedicated funding streams for disadvantaged student groups, and uphold our civil rights and equity responsibilities to ensure all students receive a high quality education. Rep. Miller’s amendment is supported by civil rights, reform, disability, and education organizations. Republicans rejected the amendment.
H.R. 5 is opposed by an extraordinary cross-section of business, labor, civil rights, disability, child advocacy, and education groups including, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Round Table, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the Education Trust, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and the American Federation of Teachers. See a complete list of opposition here.
A final amendment offered by Democrats to H.R. 5 would have improved child safety in schools. It included provisions to protect educational opportunities for children with disabilities including autism, end abusive seclusion and restraint practices in schools, provide for criminal background checks of school personnel and contractors to protect children from sexual predators, and set standards to protect student athletes from concussions. The Republican majority rejected this amendment.
Watch Rep. Miller discuss how H.R. 5 lets our nation’s students down below.
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