[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 178 (Wednesday, December 9, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 1177, STUDENT SUCCESS ACT

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                               speech of

                       HON. BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 2, 2015

  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Every 
Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). It has been 14 years since the last 
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and we 
have desperately needed an update to this critical law. The 2001 No 
Child Left Behind Act included unworkable provisions and led to the 
proliferation of high-stakes testing. In order to manage the impact of 
the law's strict provisions, the federal government has granted waivers 
to 40 states, resulting in unpredictability and unequal application of 
the law. The ESSA will correct our previous mistakes by maintaining 
high standards while giving states and local school districts greater 
flexibility in achieving them with evidence-based strategies.
  At its core, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is a civil 
rights law that reflects our society's consensus that every state and 
school district must provide a quality education to all children. In 
order to fulfill this promise, we must have sufficient information to 
measure inequities in educational achievement for all groups, and we 
must ensure states and local governments are taking the steps necessary 
to close those achievement gaps. For that reason, I am very concerned 
that the ESSA lacks data disaggregation for Asian American and Pacific 
Islander (AAPI) students. The AAPI community is extremely diverse with 
over 48 distinct ethnic groups that face varying challenges in 
educational achievement. The lack of data disaggregation will prevent 
us from determining what gaps exist and how best to address them.
  Additionally, I am concerned by the lack of key provisions from the 
Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Student Non-Discrimination Act. I 
have cosponsored these important pieces of legislation because more 
must be done to address the harmful effects of bullying and 
discrimination, particularly for LGBT students. No child should be 
denied a quality education due to his or her race, ethnicity, sex, 
sexual orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status. This bill 
takes important steps in the right direction, but the lack of AAPI data 
disaggregation and important LGBT protections shows there is much work 
to be done to achieve this goal. I look forward to working with my 
colleagues to address these flaws.

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