[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 173 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8237-S8238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND CONFERENCE

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of 
my opening remarks during the conference with the House of 
Representatives on S. 1177, the Every Child Achieves Act, be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


                    NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND CONFERENCE

       Representative Kline, Representative Scott, Senator Murray, 
     ladies and gentlemen.
       We're here for one reason today, because I sat down with 
     Patty Murray in January and she gave me some good advice and 
     I took it.
       And the advice was--why don't we see if we can develop a 
     bipartisan beginning to this bill, because we had failed in 
     the last two congresses.
       And as a result we ended up with a bill that passed by the 
     Senate after many amendments, 81 to 17.
       Newsweek magazine recently reminded us what we already knew 
     very well: No Child Left Behind is a law that everybody wants 
     fixed. Governors, teachers, superintendents, parents, 
     Republicans, Democrats, students they all want to see this 
     law fixed.
       There is a consensus about that. And, fortunately, there is 
     a consensus about how to do it.
       And that consensus is this--Continue the law's important 
     measurements of academic progress of students but restore to 
     states, school districts, classroom teachers and parents the 
     responsibility for deciding what to do about improving 
     student achievement.
       That's why in the Senate the bill passed 81 to 17.
       That's is why the bill had the support of the nation's 
     governors, the Chief State School Officers, the school 
     superintendents, the National Education Association and the 
     American Federation of Teachers.
       There were some differences between the House bill and 
     Senate bill. Fundamentally, they were based upon that same 
     consensus.
       Both end the waivers through which the U.S. Department of 
     Education has become, in effect, a national school board for 
     more than 80,000 Schools in 42 states.
       Both end the federal Common Core mandate.
       Both move decisions about whether schools and teachers are 
     succeeding or failing out of Washington, D.C., and back to 
     states and communities and teachers where those decisions 
     belong because the real way to higher standards, better 
     teachers and real accountability is through states, 
     communities, and classrooms--not through Washington, D.C.
       That's why I believe this conference will be successful, 
     that both houses will approve our conference work product and 
     I believe the president will sign the legislation into law.
       Even though this agreement, in my opinion, is the most 
     significant step toward local control of schools in 25 years, 
     some Republicans would like to go further.
       I am one of them.
       But my Scholarship for Kids proposal, which would have 
     given states the option to allow federal dollars to follow 
     children to the schools their parents choose, only received 
     45 votes in the Senate. We need 60.
       So I have decided, like a president named Reagan once 
     advised, that I'll take 80 percent of what I want and I'll 
     fight for the other 20 percent on another day.
       Besides, if I were to vote no, I would be voting to leave 
     in place the federal Common Core mandate, the national school 
     board, the waivers in 42 states. Let me repeat: Voting no is 
     voting to leave in place the Common Core mandate, the 
     national school board, and waivers in 42 states.
       There are a lot of people counting on us: 50 million 
     children and 3.4 million teachers and 100,000 public schools.
       The law expired seven years ago. If it were strictly 
     applied, every school in America a failing school.
       Teachers and children and parents have been waiting all 
     that time. If this were homework, they would give us a 
     failing grade for being tardy.
       So I hope we will remind ourselves, and this is my 
     conclusion, that it is a great privilege to serve in the 
     United States House of Representatives and the United States 
     Senate.
       That there is no need for us to have that privilege if all 
     we do is announce our opinions. We could do that at home, or 
     on the radio, or the newspaper or the street corner.
       As members of the Congress, after we have our say, our job 
     is to get a result.
       We`re not the Iraqi parliament.
       We are members of the United States Congress, and I hope 
     that we will demonstrate that we cherish that privilege and 
     that we cherish our children by building upon this 
     consensus--fixing the law that everybody wants fixed--and 
     showing that we are capable of governing by bringing badly 
     needed certainty to federal education policy in 100,000 
     public schools.
       Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of 
my closing remarks during the conference with the House of 
Representatives on S. 1177, the Every Child Achieves Act, be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


                    NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND CONFERENCE

       The real winners today are 100,000 public schools which are 
     attended by 50 million children, where three and a half 
     million teachers work and are eager for us to bring some 
     certainty to federal education policy.
       This is a law that everybody knows needs fixing. But also 
     in fixing this law we know that there were alligators lurking 
     in every

[[Page S8238]]

     corner of the pond, and the fact that we were able to both in 
     the Senate and the House navigate that pond and deal with 
     respectfully with one another--and also recognize in some 
     cases our different points of view couldn't be included--I 
     think, is a great credit to the process.
       Governors, teachers, superintendents, Republicans and 
     Democrats, wanted us to do this, and we've done it so far. 
     There's not only consensus on the need to fix it, but we have 
     now shown today that in the House and Senate of the United 
     States, there is consensus on how to fix it. And that means 
     we'll keep the important measures of student achievement, but 
     we will restore to states, communities and classroom teachers 
     the responsibility with what to do about the results of the 
     tests.
       This would not have happened without your leadership and 
     Rep. Bobby Scott, who has been a terrific partner in all 
     this, and the cooperation of the members of the House and 
     Senate on this committee.
       I've complimented Senator Murray perhaps excessively over 
     the last year, but she has been absolutely key to this. So I 
     thank you for the opportunity to participate in this.
       I came to the Senate not just to make a speech but also to 
     try and get a result and today we've gotten one.

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