House passes Student Success Act

The House recently approved the first bill that would rewrite K-12 education law since No Child Left Behind.

The Student Success Act passed in a House vote of 221-207 on Friday. It was sponsored by House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Chairman Todd Rokita (R-Ind.).

“For the first time in more than a decade, the House has approved legislation to revamp K-12 education law,” Kline said. “This is a monumental step forward in the fight to improve the nation’s education system and ensure a brighter future for our children. The Student Success Act will tear down barriers to progress and grant states and districts the freedom and flexibility they need to think bigger, innovate, and take whatever steps are necessary to raise the bar in our schools.”

The bill would decentralize the decision-making process in schools and provide more power for local officials who have more familiarity with each community’s educational needs.

“No Washington bureaucrat cares more about a child than a parent does,” Rokita said. “And no one in Washington knows what is better for an Indiana school than Indiana families do. That is why the Student Success Act puts an end to the administration’s National School Board by putting state and local school districts back in charge of their own schools.”

Provisions in the bill include the elimination of federal mandated actions and interventions currently required of poor performing schools. The bill would also allow Title I schools to receive funds to promote the academic achievement of students in need.