Senate Republicans on Wednesday strongly criticized Education Secretary John King, saying he’d failed to follow the intent of the act that replaced No Child Left Behind, which was designed to give states more control over measuring school performance.
“The words we used were carefully and deliberately chosen,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the lead sponsor of the Every Student Succeeds Act. “We meant for the words to mean what they say – nothing more, nothing less. . . . Any regulation has to stay within those words. The law did not envision or invite the secretary to legislate more requirements.”
The eight Republican members who attended the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing chastised King, saying he’d failed to follow numerous provisions, including mandates to reduce the size of the Department of Education, allow states to set rules for measuring performance and avoid complex reporting requirements for academic achievement.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said her colleagues who had written the new education act “were careful in drafting the bill, and that’s why there is this frustration that many of us are feeling.”
The Every Student Succeeds Act replaced its unpopular predecessor last December. The new law focuses less on standardized testing requirements and transfers federal control of school accountability to the states.
Via McClatchy