“The most recent iteration of the Elementary Secondary Education Act, HR 5, that was brought to the floor of the House today failed to implement lessons learned from the failed policies of No Child Left Behind. Instead of providing more resources to students and teachers and implementing smarter accountability measures, the Student Success Act advances policies that gut the core intent of the original Elementary Secondary Education Act of 1965.
Among the most egregious provisions of the proposed legislation is a provision providing for the “portability” for Title 1 funds. This specific provision adversely affects families in District 30 and any communities with high concentrations of poverty by diluting the funding formula which seeks to provide additional resources to struggling school districts. Instead of abating the disparity of resources within underserved communities, portability of Title 1 funds would guarantee that low-resourced schools remained in deteriorating conditions.
Additionally, as the Ranking Member on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and a long-time advocate for STEM -- Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering -- education, I was alarmed by the utter and complete exclusion of any reference to STEM education within the base text.
We should be retooling our education system to fit the needs of an ever evolving, globalized economy, not running back to factory-style education that fails to provide our children with the skills needed to compete.
Education is the ladder to opportunity and central to keeping alive the American Dream. I will not rest until my colleagues on both sides of aisle establish a bill that ensures education in America is reflective of our principles as a nation.”
