The U-S House of Representatives last (Wed) night approved the Every Student Succeeds Act. It replaces the No Child left Behind Act by greatly reducing the power of the federal government role in K through 12 education.
Ideastream’s Mark Urycki reports it’ll mean Ohio officials will have more say about school standards in the Buckeye state.
No Child Left Behind was meant to set minimum standards for American schools and punish states who allowed schools to fail. But a backlash over testing forced a change in the law.
Ohio kids will still have to takes standardized tests in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school but the state will decided what goals the pupils need to meet. If a school is failing, it’s largely up to the locals to decide how to fix it.
Democrat Tim Ryan of Youngstown voted for the bill. He’s happy about less high-stakes testing.
"You know learning needs to be fun and it’s not because we’re soft or we don’t want the kids to have accountability. Everybody needs to be held accountable. But the number one thing for someone going into the workforce – or live- in the next couple decades and work in the next couple decades is you need to love to learn.”
Ryan says the federal bill does set up stricter standards for following the progress of charter schools. He noted the data-rigging scandal within the Ohio department of Education to prop up charter schools. Ryan also favors some new funding in the bill for programs that provide emotional support for stressed children.
The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week.