Courtney Decries Hyper-Partisan Republican Markup of ‘No Child Left Behind' Replacement
February 13, 2015
WASHINGTON—After House Republicans rammed through markup this week a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—the most recent iteration of which is known as ‘No Child Left Behind’—Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) denounced the one-sided approach.
“Congress is years overdue in reauthorizing ESEA, which is in desperate need of an overhaul,” Courtney said. “13 years after the enactment of No Child Left Behind, it is clear that the law is failing students and teachers. With the start of this new Congress, the time is right for bipartisan cooperation to examine and improve federal education policy. Unfortunately, the markup this week fell far short of that goal. Prior to markup, the committee failed to hold a single hearing to educate new members and hear from parents, teachers and administrators about their own experiences with the law and recommendations to make it work better for students and teachers. The new bill will dictate federal policy for five years. During the markup, not a single amendment was accepted from the Democratic minority.
“While I could not support the proposed bill, which capped education funding for schools at pre-2012 levels, I did propose an amendment that would have improved access and availability for STEM education resources. This language was developed with help from the STEM education coalition, a diverse group of employers and science educators, in order to boost critical academic curriculum for America’s workforce needs. It would help districts to hire STEM teachers, create a STEM master teacher corps, encourage STEM learning in early grades and focus on boosting currently underrepresented students in the STEM disciplines, including young women and minorities. The amendment would have also promoted collaboration between local school districts and STEM-related institutions.
“Disappointingly, this investment in critical skills for our future workforce was rejected along party lines. I will continue to work toward positive solutions that improve ESEA, and are based on input from students, educators, and parents.”
The Courtney amendment, which failed along party lines in a voice vote during Wednesday’s markup, would have improved current law by:
• Creating a separate funding stream to support STEM education. H.R. 5, the Republican bill, does not specifically fund STEM education.
• Strengthening the provisions formerly authorized under the current law program Mathematics and Science Partnerships and increasing its funding.
WASHINGTON—After House Republicans rammed through markup this week a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—the most recent iteration of which is known as ‘No Child Left Behind’—Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) denounced the one-sided approach.
“Congress is years overdue in reauthorizing ESEA, which is in desperate need of an overhaul,” Courtney said. “13 years after the enactment of No Child Left Behind, it is clear that the law is failing students and teachers. With the start of this new Congress, the time is right for bipartisan cooperation to examine and improve federal education policy. Unfortunately, the markup this week fell far short of that goal. Prior to markup, the committee failed to hold a single hearing to educate new members and hear from parents, teachers and administrators about their own experiences with the law and recommendations to make it work better for students and teachers. The new bill will dictate federal policy for five years. During the markup, not a single amendment was accepted from the Democratic minority.
“While I could not support the proposed bill, which capped education funding for schools at pre-2012 levels, I did propose an amendment that would have improved access and availability for STEM education resources. This language was developed with help from the STEM education coalition, a diverse group of employers and science educators, in order to boost critical academic curriculum for America’s workforce needs. It would help districts to hire STEM teachers, create a STEM master teacher corps, encourage STEM learning in early grades and focus on boosting currently underrepresented students in the STEM disciplines, including young women and minorities. The amendment would have also promoted collaboration between local school districts and STEM-related institutions.
“Disappointingly, this investment in critical skills for our future workforce was rejected along party lines. I will continue to work toward positive solutions that improve ESEA, and are based on input from students, educators, and parents.”
The Courtney amendment, which failed along party lines in a voice vote during Wednesday’s markup, would have improved current law by:
• Creating a separate funding stream to support STEM education. H.R. 5, the Republican bill, does not specifically fund STEM education.
• Strengthening the provisions formerly authorized under the current law program Mathematics and Science Partnerships and increasing its funding.
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Issues:
Education