[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 25 (Thursday, February 11, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S859-S860]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        EVERY CHILD SUCCEEDS ACT

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, last summer, by a vote of 81 to 17, the 
Senate passed a bill to fix No Child Left Behind. The House of 
Representatives had already passed their version. We had a conference 
report. We sent it to the President, and it was in December that 
President Obama signed the Every Student Succeed Acts to fix No Child 
Left Behind. The President not only signed it in a large ceremony 
attended by parents, teachers, students, Governors, and people from all 
walks of life, the President said it was a ``Christmas miracle.'' I 
think he said that for a couple of reasons. One, it was good news. 
Miracles are usually good news, and this was good news for 50 million 
children, 3.5 million teachers, and 100,000 public schools. They had 
waited 8 years for the U.S. Congress to fix the problems with No Child 
Left Behind. They knew it was difficult to do, and they looked forward 
to the result that we achieved because we achieved a consensus. There 
surely was a consensus if this was a law that everybody wanted fixed, 
but we also had a consensus about how to fix it.
  People who don't usually agree in the education world said: We want 
to keep the tests. We want to keep the 17 federally required, State-
designed tests between grades 3 and 12 so we can know how our children 
are doing, and we want to report that to the parents and the students, 
but we want to move the responsibility for our children and our schools 
out of Washington and back to the classroom teachers, back to the local 
school boards, back to the communities, and back to the Governors.
  We heard that from the left, and we heard that from the right. We 
heard that from the Governors, and we heard that from the teachers 
unions. Because we all had that consensus, we were able to secure a 
vote of 81 to 17 here, and, as I often said last year, that is not that 
easy to do. Everyone is an expert on education. We have all had some 
education. It is like being in the Louisiana State University football 
stadium or the University of Tennessee football stadium. The stands are 
filled with 80,000 or 100,000 people who know exactly what the next 
play to call is because they have all played a little football and they 
are usually ready to say what it is. So that is what we had to 
navigate, but we did. As the President said, it was a Christmas miracle 
and a gift for the children, the teachers, and the parents who care 
about our public schools.
  The reason I am on the floor today is to put into the Congressional 
Record a letter to the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of 
Education, John B. King, Jr. The letter is from a number of those in 
the coalition of educators and others who helped to pass the Every 
Student Succeeds Act.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
the letter I am referring to at the conclusion of my remarks.
  This is a letter from people who don't always work together. In fact, 
in their letter to the Acting Secretary of Education they say: ``Mr. 
King, although our organizations do not always agree, we are unified in 
our belief that ESSA is a historic opportunity to make a world-class 
21st century education system. We are dedicated to working together at 
the national level to facilitate partnership among our members in 
States and districts to guarantee the success of this new law.''
  This letter comes from the National Governors Association, the School 
Superintendents Association, the National Education Association, and 
the American Federation of Teachers who all signed this letter. So did 
the National Conference of State Legislators, the National Association 
of State Boards of Education, the National School Boards Association, 
the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National 
Association of Secondary School Principals, and the National Parent 
Teacher Association. I have racked my brain, and I can't think of any 
significant group in the State or local education world that hasn't 
signed this letter, except the Council of Chief State School Officers. 
I have no idea why they have not yet signed it because they were 
enthusiastically in support of our bill as well, so I hope they are 
also part of our coalition.
  But here is the importance of this coalition. The coalition that sent 
this letter is the same coalition that supported passage of the bill. 
They know what I know and what Senator Murray of Washington State 
knows--who was the principal Democratic architect of the bill--that 
bill isn't worth the paper it is printed on unless it is implemented 
properly.
  This bill makes a dramatic shift in policy for elementary and 
secondary education. The Wall Street Journal called it the largest 
devolution of power from Washington to the States in a quarter of a 
century. They are right about that. Both the left and the right had 
grown tired of a national school board in Washington, in effect, 
telling teachers and school boards and Governors and legislators what 
to do about their children and what to do about their schools. Those 
decisions are best made by those closest to the children. We don't get 
any wiser by flying from Nashville to Washington each week. In fact, 
there are a lot of people back in Nashville who think we lose a little 
bit of our common sense when we come here. So this is important. This 
is what we usually don't see from Washington--taking large amounts of 
power and sending it back home where it belongs. That is what all of 
these organizations say about the new law. Their letter says:

       ESSA replaces a top-down accountability and testing regime 
     with an inclusive system based on collaborative State and 
     local innovation. For this vision to become a reality, we 
     must work together to closely honor congressional intent. 
     ESSA is clear: Education decision-making now rests with 
     states and districts, and the federal role is to support and 
     inform those decisions.

  Let me read that again:

       Education decision-making now rests with states and 
     districts, and the federal role is to support and inform 
     those decisions.

  That is what the Governors say. That is what the National Education 
Association says. That is what the American Federation of Teachers 
says. That

[[Page S860]]

is what the superintendents, the legislators, the State boards of 
education, the school boards, the principals, and the PTA say. And that 
is what the Senate said, that we are moving power out of Washington and 
back to the classroom, back to the community, back to the State. Our 
next year is going to be devoted to making sure that gets done. Our 
committee--of which the distinguished Senator from Louisiana is a 
member--will be having six hearings this year with the Department of 
Education and with many of the people whom I just mentioned to make 
sure the law is being implemented in the way Congress wrote it. The 
House of Representatives will do the same thing. Our objectives will be 
the same that are in this letter--working together to ensure a timely, 
fair transition to the new law; coordinate with Governors, State 
representatives, et cetera; promote State and local decision-making--in 
other words, make sure that what happens is what Congress said should 
happen.
  I thank the National Governors Association especially, which took the 
lead in organizing this coalition. I thank each member of the coalition 
for organizing this coalition. I will be visiting with the Governors in 
a week, and I will be suggesting to the Governors--after I thank them 
for their support for the bill--that every single State organize a 
coalition just like the coalition represented in this letter.
  In Tennessee, I think it would be a good idea if the Governor and the 
superintendent work together with the NEA, the AFT, the legislators, 
the State board of education, the school boards, the principals, and 
the PTA to make sure that in Tennessee, the responsibility for the 
children, the schools, the standards, and the progress is in the hands 
of those in whom we decided it ought to be vested. And we, at our level 
in Congress, will keep the spotlight on what is happening here.
  There was not a piece of legislation more important that passed in 
the Congress last year. We got a lot of good things done in the last 
year, but nothing was more important than this, nothing was more 
difficult than this.
  I have already mentioned Senator Murray, the Senator from Washington 
State, who was superb in working with both sides of the aisle to help 
get a result that had evaded the Senate for 8 years. I welcome the 
support of this coalition for the very same work we will be doing in 
the Senate. I hope every State will follow the example of these 
national organizations.
  I look forward to a period of innovation and excellence that I am 
sure will be the result of this new era of accountability, 
responsibility, and opportunity placed in the hands of those who should 
have the responsibility for our children and our schools.
  I thank the president, and I yield the floor.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                February 10, 2016.
     John B. King, Jr.,
     Acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Acting Secretary King: On behalf of states, school 
     districts, educators and parents, we write to express our 
     strong, shared commitment to making the Every Student 
     Succeeds Act (ESSA) a law that puts students first. We invite 
     you to work with us to ensure that communities determine the 
     best methods of educating our nation's children.
       Although our organizations do not always agree, we are 
     unified in our belief that ESSA is a historic opportunity to 
     make a world-class 21 century education system. We are 
     dedicated to working together at the national level to 
     facilitate partnership among our members in states and 
     districts to guarantee the success of this new law.
       ESSA replaces a top-down accountability and testing regime 
     with an inclusive system based on collaborative state and 
     local innovation. For this vision to become a reality, we 
     must work together to closely honor congressional intent. 
     ESSA is clear: Education decision making now rests with 
     states and districts, and the federal role is to support and 
     inform those decisions.
       In the coming months, our coalition--the State and Local 
     ESSA Implementation Network--will: Work together to ensure a 
     timely, fair transition to ES SA; Coordinate ESSA 
     implementation by governors, state superintendents, school 
     boards, state legislators, local superintendents, educators 
     and parents; Promote state, local and school decision-making 
     during implementation; and Collaborate with a broader group 
     of education stakeholders to provide guidance to the federal 
     government on key implementation issues.
       In ESSA, Congress recognizes states and schools as well-
     suited to provide a high-quality education to every child, 
     regardless of their background. We have long prioritized 
     lifting up those students who need help the most and our 
     members stand ready to continue this work.
       Our organizations look forward to a cooperative, 
     collaborative and productive relationship with you and your 
     staff throughout the implementation process.
           Sincerely,
         Scott D. Pattison, Executive Director/CEO, National 
           Governors Association; William T. Pound, Executive 
           Director, National Conference of State Legislatures; 
           Kristen J. Amundson, Executive Director, National 
           Association of State Boards of Education; Daniel A. 
           Domenech, Executive Director, AASA: The School 
           Superintendents Association; JoAnn D. Bartoletti, 
           Executive Director, National Association of Secondary 
           School Principals; Lily Eskelsen Garcia, President, 
           National Education Association; Thomas J. Gentzel, 
           Executive Director, National School Boards Association; 
           Gail Connelly, Executive Director, National Association 
           of Elementary School Principals; Randi Weingarten, 
           President, American Federation of Teachers; Laura M. 
           Bay, President, National PTA.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

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