NEA president supports the Every Student Succeeds Act

New education bill would create greater opportunity for every student to succeed

WASHINGTON - November 30, 2015 - 

Today, the U.S. Senate and House conference committee released to the public legislative language of a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for the first time in years. The bill is now known as the Every Student Succeeds Act. The House of Representatives is planning to take up ESSA this week. The Senate is expected to follow next week.

NEA President Lily Eskelsen García issued the following statement:

“NEA is supportive of the Every Student Succeeds Act.

“Students have suffered long enough under the broken system of test and punish created by the No Child Left Behind Act. We are encouraged that this new bill will help to create greater opportunity for every student to succeed, regardless of their ZIP code.

“In particular, the bill includes student and school supports in state accountability plans to create an opportunity ‘dashboard’; reduces the amount of standardized testing in schools and decouples high-stakes decision making and statewide standardized tests; and ensures that educators’ voices are part of decision making at the federal, state and local levels.

“We look forward to working with members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to ensure that we produce a final bill that, when signed by the president, gives every student the opportunity, support, tools, and time to learn.”