WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts’ bill to stop the federal government from interfering with state and local education decisions on academic standards, like Common Core, took a huge step forward over the past week.
Roberts’ bill was included in the Chairman’s mark of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which was today approved by the Senate Committee on Health, Education and Pensions (HELP). The bipartisan Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, which reauthorizes elementary and secondary education programs, now goes to the full Senate for a debate and a vote.
“I want to thank the Chairman for including my language in the bill before us today because I firmly believe it will prohibit the Administration from finding additional ways to promote a state’s adoption of Common Core,” Roberts said.
“My legislation would strictly forbid the federal government from intervening in a state’s education standards, curricula, and assessments through the use of incentives, mandates, grants, waivers or any other form of manipulation. A state will now be free from federal interference in how to decide whether or not to use Common Core or any other type of academic standard.”
Video of Senator Roberts’ remarks during the mark-up are here.
Earlier this year, Senator Roberts introduced the Learning Opportunities Created At the Local (LOCAL) Level Act, designed to preserve state education autonomy by prohibiting the federal government from coercing states to adopt education standards like Common Core. Text of that bill can be found here.
A member of the HELP Committee, Roberts fought hard to ensure the LOCAL Level language was included in the Every Child Achieves Act.
The LOCAL Level Act has the support of Heritage Action for America, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), the Eagle Forum, FreedomWorks, and the Family Research Council.
The LOCAL Level Act was also co-sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.).
“As a member of this Committee,” Roberts said, “I am fully committed to fighting this one-size-fits-all federal education agenda because I firmly believe local control is best when it comes to education.
“I am supporting the legislation in its current form because it puts an end to Washington mandates and allows Kansans to make their own decisions about the best way to improve education.
“While this legislation heads in the right direction in reducing the federal footprint, I want to remind my colleagues that it is important that we avoid adding back in federal mandates and prescriptive requirements.
“As we move forward, I will continue to push to return K-12 education decision making to state and local control, where we can establish the best policies to ensure that every child receives the highest quality education.”