Dive Summary:
- The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Wednesday approved chairman Tom Harkin's bill replacing No Child Left Behind in a 12-10 party line vote that saw Democrats defeat almost every amendment offered by Republicans.
- The two parties disagreed on the role of the federal government in K-12 public education, with Democrats saying it should be able to hold schools accountable for giving educational opportunities to all children, but Republicans felt that control should be given to states and communities.
- Both parties agreed to do away with No Child Left Behind's requirement that schools make progress toward having all students proficient in reading and math by 2014 or face increasingly punitive measures.
- It's unclear when the bill will be brought before the full Senate, and a House Republican bill to replace No Child Left Behind is also up for committee debate.
From the article:
... “What we’re asking for is a system of shared responsibility with states and local school districts,” Harkin said. The federal government must act as a backstop to prevent states from “returning to old ways in which certain groups of students did not have access,” he said. ...
