Burr votes to end Common Core mandate, fund N.C. schools

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) voted this month to approve the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESAE) conference report, which would end the No Child Left Behind program and Common Core mandate while revamping education programs nationwide.

The conference report would mark a dramatic shift from the influence of Washington on K-12 education through the empowerment of teachers and principals to make education choices on behalf of their students.

The report also includes language sponsored by Burr to fix federal education funding inequities that have shortchanged North Carolina schools, teachers and low income students for 15 years. The language would add $24 million for school programs each year.

“This legislation finally ends Washington’s Common Core mandate,” Burr said. “I look forward to local communities and schools again taking the lead in educating children, as opposed to the Washington bureaucracies that flourished over 15 years under both No Child Left Behind and the Obama Administration’s waivers. Additionally, low-income students in North Carolina stand to see a significant increase of 47 percent, up to $24 million per year, in education funding via an updated Title II program. After years of pretending to steer limited federal dollars to our poorest children, we are now actually getting that funding into the communities that need it most.”

Burr’s updated Title II program funding alignment passed through committee in March.