Tennessee Republican Leaders Disagree on Education Bill

WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has narrowly passed a Republican-led rewrite of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law. It would dramatically lessen the role the federal government plays in education policy for the nation’s public schools.

The bill, sponsored by Minnesota Rep. John Kline, gives states and local school districts more control over assessing the performance of schools, teachers and their students. It also prohibits the federal government from requiring or encouraging specific sets of academic standards, such as Common Core.

The Senate is debating a similar bill.

The House action came five months after conservatives forced GOP leaders to pull the bill just before a scheduled vote. This time around, conservatives indicated they would support the legislation if they had the chance to offer amendments.

Here is how your Representatives voted:

(R) Fleischmann-TN  Yes
(R) Graves-GA Yes

(R) Desjarlais- TN No
(R) Meadows- NC No
(R) Brooks- AL No

Reprsentative Scott DesJarlais representing the Sequatchie Valley explained why he was against it:

— Congressman Scott DesJarlais, M.D. (TN-04) released the following statement after voting against H.R. 5, The Student Success Act:
“One of the more egregious examples of overreach by our federal government lies within our nation’s school system. For too long, out of touch Washington bureaucrats have been able to put in place one-size-fits-all policies that hinder the growth of students not just in Tennessee, but all across the United States. Parents, teachers and local school districts know their students’ needs far better than any federal agency and should ultimately have the final say in how children should best be educated. While there were some positive reforms contained in H.R. 5, I do not believe it sufficiently addressed the numerous obstacles educators face when complying with federal regulations in the classroom.”

Senator Lamar Alexander is working on the Senate version on the bill, and supports the House vote.

Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on House passage of legislation to fix No Child Left Behind:
“Newsweek magazine calls No Child Left Behind ‘the education law everyone wants to fix,’ so it’s hard to overstate the importance of what Chairman Kline has accomplished in passing a bill to do just that. House passage of this bill is the first step, Senate passage next week will be the next step, then we can go to conference, get a bill to the president’s desk, fix the law and improve the future for 50 million children in 100,000 public schools.”