[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 3, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





     EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT WILL RETURN CONTROL TO OUR SCHOOLS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, last month I met with 
teachers, administrators, school board members, even educators in 
higher education that train our next generation of teachers and some 
graduate students who are in that program to discuss the Every Student 
Succeeds Act, or ESSA, which replaces No Child Left Behind as our 
Nation's elementary and secondary education law.
  I was honored to be appointed by Speaker Ryan to the conference 
committee that was tasked with settling the differences between the 
House and Senate versions of ESSA to assure this legislation will 
prepare students for life success.
  The ESSA reins in the unilateral power of the United States Secretary 
of Education and gives it back to the States and the local education 
agencies. It prohibits the Secretary from adding new requirements to 
State education plans, being involved in the peer review process, and 
exceeding his or her statutory authority. It also allows school 
districts to disentangle themselves from Common Core without penalty.
  Additionally, the ESSA eliminates the controversial adequate yearly 
progress provision, paving the way for States to develop their own 
accountability systems. While the new law keeps annual standardized 
testing requirements for students in grade 3 through 8 in place to 
monitor progress, it eliminates most of the burden of testing on 
teachers and students and it sets up a process to further reduce even 
more standardized testing in the future.
  While assessments for elementary schools must be the same for all 
public school students statewide, States may also choose. They have 
flexibility to offer nationally recognized local assessments at the 
high school level as long as the assessments are reliable, valid, and 
comparable.
  In other words, a local education agency could use the SATs or ACTs 
to evaluate high school students instead of being held solely to tests 
mandated by the Federal Government.
  Now, this flexibility should, could, and will be extended to career- 
and technical-education-focused students whose trade-specific 
competency is appropriately measured by the NOCTI performance test.
  This flexibility will benefit our students and strengthen our overall 
economy. High school students will have increased access to pathways 
leading to careers in high-skill, high-wage jobs in technological 
industries.
  The connection between education and our students' future careers is 
also enhanced by a provision in this law that encourages businesses to 
get involved with their local schools.
  Schools will be able to apply for funds to provide apprenticeships 
that offer academic credit toward comprehensive career counseling.
  Now, this was the result of bipartisan legislation I introduced with 
Congressman Jim Langevin aimed at informing school counselors of local 
labor market conditions so that they can best guide the decisionmaking 
process of these students and their parents.
  Not only does ESSA lift overly strict testing requirements, it also 
ends the Federal mandate on teacher assessments.
  States will be able to enact their own evaluation system in 
accordance with stakeholders, including teachers, paraprofessionals, 
and their unions. The structure of their system will no longer be tied 
to Federal funding as it was in No Child Left Behind.
  ESSA provides flexibility in the use of Federal funding, allowing 
teachers and district administrators to finance priorities set at the 
local level. This commonsense provision restores control to those on 
the front lines of educating our students and our children.
  The ESSA also calls for the United States Department of Education to 
study how title I funds are allocated. Now, title I funds are used to 
offset the impact of poverty, one of the leading influences in the 
academic achievement of our children. I have long been concerned that 
the children are put at a disadvantage based upon the population of the 
school district rather than the concentration of poverty.
  This study is the result of an amendment I introduced, which gained 
the support of the entire conference committee responsible for merging 
the House and Senate versions of the legislation.
  Title I funds are vastly important to students who are low income, 
disadvantaged, or who have disabilities. I am hopeful this study will 
make a strong argument for a more equitable distribution of funds for 
the areas which need them most. Funding must be based on student need, 
not a school district's ZIP code.
  The ESSA is 4-year reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act. Feedback from those involved in educating our students 
is so essential to making the right changes to our education system, 
and I appreciate the feedback that came in this process as we succeeded 
in this reform.
  Now, as these changes are put into practice, I want to hear from you. 
If a particular provision of the ESSA is having a great effect on your 
student or your school district, whether it is good or whether it is 
bad, Congress needs to know.
  As the implementation of this new law begins, I will continue to 
travel across Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District, keeping our 
schools up to date on the change that was long overdue.

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