[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 7, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H1019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 LET OUR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS SUCCEED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak 
about some significant changes for our education system that will help 
reestablish local control for our States, for our educators, and, above 
all else, for our students.
  The Every Student Succeeds Act, or the ESSA, was passed in December 
of 2015, with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House and the 
Senate. This bill took unilateral power over the public school system 
away from the Secretary of Education in Washington and gave it back to 
the States and the local education agencies. This change allowed States 
to develop their own accountability systems with which to measure the 
success of their schools and educators.
  However, the final guidance on this law issued by the Obama 
administration, in November of 2016, contained a number of provisions 
that significantly expanded the law's requirements and violated the 
statute's prohibition against overreach by the Secretary. Essentially, 
this action ignored congressional intent by attempting to constrain 
State decisionmaking.
  Mr. Speaker, the very intent of ESSA is to encourage flexibility and 
innovation in education, not stifle it. This landmark legislation is 
meant to prepare students for the 21st century economy, empower parents 
to get out of the bleachers and back into the classrooms, and to allow 
our dedicated educators to teach and inspire future generations.
  ESSA moved the Federal Government out of the way and gave our 
educators flexibility to forget about the ``teach to the test'' 
environment that had become commonplace in our public schools. Teachers 
were, again, allowed to truly teach and not merely focus on meeting the 
demands of the Federal Government. Education should serve the needs of 
our youth, our children, not the needs of government.
  This happened by taking unprecedented steps to rein in the unilateral 
power of the United States Secretary of Education and give it back to 
the States and local education agencies. It prohibited 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 gradually disentangle 
themselves from Common Core without penalty.
  Mr. Speaker, what we know is that one-size-fits-all options do not 
work. ESSA was passed with the promise that the Education Department's 
role would be limited, and that States would be back in control of 
education decisions. It is critically important that Congress keep this 
promise, and that over-regulation will not continue to negatively 
impact our Nation's teachers and our students.
  That is why I support the Congressional Review Act resolution in the 
House today that disapproves of the Obama administration's requirements 
that significantly expanded the Department of Education's purview 
regarding accountability and State plans under the Every Student 
Succeeds Act.
  This Congress must ensure ESSA is enacted as it was intended and be 
stripped of any provisions that expand the reach of the Secretary of 
Education.
  Now, I am looking forward to going back to the original intent of 
this bipartisan bill that was approved in both Chambers, and I want all 
of our children to love learning from passionate teachers who don't 
teach to a test, but they teach to the students. Our kids deserve no 
less.

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