Congressional Tri-Caucus Opposes Misguided Bills That Weaken Education
WASHINGTON, DC – Tomorrow, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will mark up the Student Success Act (H.R. 3989) and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act (H.R. 3990), the final two pieces of legislation revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), more commonly known as No Child Left Behind. The markup follows extensive efforts by the Tri-Caucus, comprised of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), to curtail the daaging partisan trajectory of the reauthorization. Today, the Tri-Caucus sent a letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce expressing their opposition to the legislation which dramatically rolls back the civil rights protections inherent in ESEA. Members of the Tri-Caucus also released the following statements:
Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-32), Chair of CAPAC: “ESEA was established to protect civil rights. It was about ensuring equality for every child in our education system, regardless of background or circumstance. That way, education truly is a ticket to a brighter future for every child. Unfortunately, the changes Republicans continue to put forth in these bills dim the prospects for our most vulnerable children. All this has really shown us is the racial divide is as wide as ever.
“Since the beginning of this session of Congress, the Tri-Caucus has sent numerous letters and worked hard to make this a bipartisan process. It’s clear at this point that our efforts and input have fallen on deaf ears. Removing accountability will make it harder to ensure federal money is well spent, and eliminating performance targets lowers standards for our children to reach. This legislation will be a step backwards for civil rights, and will ultimately leave our country less competitive in the global economy.”
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-05), Chair of CBC: "I join with my Tri-Caucus colleagues against the proposed Student Success Act and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act. The proposed legislation would significantly roll back the civil rights protections inherent in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), dismantle accountability under current law, and keep students most in need from accessing critical resources. These bills directly target children in our most vulnerable communities--removing safeguards that protect all children--regardless of their background. The proposed bills would allow states to make decisions based merely on their budgets, and not on what is best for our children. Under these so-called reforms, states will be allowed to lower the quality of education for students and cut education spending, yet still receive federal dollars.
"We cannot recklessly eliminate protections within our education system that provide a fair learning environment for our children. Eliminating these standards would permanently damage the future well-being of children for generations to come. The Congressional Black Caucus actively works to promote equal opportunity in education, especially for students who have been underserved, underrepresented, and undervalued. The CBC will continue to work diligently for comprehensive education reform. Democrats and Republicans must forsake all politics to advance real education reform for the sake of our children and our economy."
Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez (TX-20), Chair of CHC: “It is deeply unsettling that this issue has become laden with partisan politics. Students of color are three times more likely than their white peers to attend a low performing school and it is vital that schools are held accountable to standards of educational success. There must be dedicated funding for English language learners and a method to ensure students with the highest needs have resources to be successful.”
Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (HI-02), Chair of CAPAC Education Taskforce: “If we want to create jobs and be competitive as a country in the global marketplace, we need employees with 21st century skills in science, technology, engineering, and math. We have to support our English language learners and students with disabilities. And we have to make sure all our keiki can succeed, regardless of which zip code they live in.
“As a member of the Education and Workforce Committee, I am disappointed that the Majority walked away from bipartisan negotiations that could have fixed the many problems of ‘No Child Left Behind,’ while moving our country forward in addressing long-standing disparities in public education that continue to leave far too many children behind.”
Congressman Danny K. Davis (Il-07), Co-Chair of CBC Education & Labor Taskforce: "ESEA is a civil rights law that ensures equal opportunity to a high-quality education for all students regardless of background or zip code. We must balance Federal accountability and state flexibility without rolling back civil rights protections, harming students, and reducing the competitiveness of our nation in the global economy, as would HR 3989 and 3990."
Congressman Raul Grijalva (AZ-07), Chair of CHC Education Taskforce: “We learned a lot over the past decade about who our education system helps and doesn’t help. But now that it’s time to fix the outdated provisions of our education law for the first time in ten years, this bill goes backwards and erases all the gains we’ve made. We need to build stronger partnerships with schools, teachers and districts and give them the resources they need to address equity and access, not leave families to fend for themselves. A good bill will help those students we know have not been best served in the last ten years – anything less will not get my vote.”
Background: The short comings of ESEA prompted the Congressional Tri-Caucus to submit letters to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in March and November of 2011, detailing specific concerns that the legislation weakened standards and accountability in the education system, failed to provide resources to students with the highest needs, and undercut rights and protections in current law.
A copy of the signed letter can be found here.
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