Education
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Education Reform Education is critical to the economic well-being of our country and the future prosperity of our children. We can no longer accept a broken system in which only roughly 30 percent of eighth grade students have basic reading and math skills. As we work to improve the nation’s education system, I'm working to streamline spending, promote flexibility and innovation, improve teacher quality, and empower parents. As Chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, I'm constantly working to ensure schools in Minnesota and around the nation provide a strong foundation for our next generation of leaders. Throughout the school year, I hear often from teachers, students, parents, superintendents, and school board members about education successes and struggles. Many have shared with me their concerns about the outdated No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability structure. Whether meeting with educators at education roundtables in Minnesota, visiting kids and teachers at our local schools, or conducting committee hearings in Washington, I have heard countless stories about amazing progress happening in schools in Minnesota and around the nation. This success isn’t due to heavy-handed Washington dictates; rather it reflects the work of parents, educators, principals, and state officials who decided the status quo is not good enough for our kids. In 2015, the House of Representatives approved the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), my legislation to replace NCLB and revamps our education system by reducing the federal footprint, restoring local control, supporting effective teachers, and empowering parents. Simply, it is about delivering the long-term solutions children deserve. The Student Success Act eliminates the one-size-fits-all Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP) metric and returns authority for measuring student achievement to states and school districts. It also grants states and districts maximum flexibility to develop effective school improvement strategies for underperforming schools. And the bill repeals the outdated federal Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) requirements and encourages states and school districts to develop teacher evaluation systems that better gauge an educator’s influence on student learning. Above all, the Student Success Act is about tearing down barriers to progress and granting states and districts the freedom to think bigger, innovate, and put more children on the path to a brighter future. Far too often, partisan bickering and petty politics dominate the headlines from Washington. But there are instances where Washington comes together on behalf of the Americans they represent. In August, 2013 I joined President Obama in the Oval Office for the signing of the Smarter Solutions for Students Act (H.R. 1911), bipartisan legislation that ties student loan interest rates to the market rather than allowing Washington politicians to set the rates. My market-based plan kept rates from doubling and actually lowered rates for thousands of Minnesota graduate and undergraduate students. Seeing this bipartisan proposal become law reminds us what can be accomplished through hard work and compromise. I look forward to building upon this success as we work toward other shared goals, including raising the bar in the nation’s classrooms by coming to an agreement with the Senate to revamp federal K-12 law, strengthening job training opportunities for American workers, and improving college affordability and access through the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. I take seriously my role in Congress to help protect and defend America’s children and their families. As the Chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, I helped champion bipartisan legislation that funds the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The legislation, H.R. 3092, was signed into law in September, 2013 and ensures the Center can continue its work on behalf of our nation’s greatest resource – our children. |
