WASHINGTON, DC –U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a senior member of the Senate education committee, today spoke on the Senate floor on the Every Child Achieves Act emphasizing that the legislation will “once and for all, end the Obama Administration’s use of waivers to force or incentivize states to adopt Common Core standards.” As a result of language Roberts fought to include, the legislation will permanently end the administration’s ability to use any tool of coercion to force states to adopt Common Core – or any set of standards at all.

 “Decisions about what children are taught are best made on the local level as close to parents as possible. The federal government should not have overriding influence over state and local education decisions. Unfortunately in recent years, this has not been the case,” Roberts said.

“We have the first opportunity in 25 years to restore decision-making back to states, local school districts, superintendents, principals, teachers, local school boards, parents and especially students.

“We need to get the federal government out of the classroom, and return community decisions back to where they belong - in the community. If the Every Child Achieves Act becomes law, we can finally say goodbye to federal interference in what we teach our kids in school.”

The Every Child Achieves Act reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which has been due for reauthorization since 2008. Roberts’ legislation, the Learning Opportunities Created At the Local (LOCAL) Level Act introduced earlier this year, was included as part of the Every Child Achieves Act. The legislation would 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.

To watch Roberts’ remarks, click here.

The following are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to talk about the bill we have before us today.

We, in the Senate, have an opportunity and responsibility to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is long overdue.

It is vital for our children and their future that we get it right when addressing education policy. The consequences will be seen for years to come.

I would like to acknowledge and commend the work of Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray who worked together to get us to this point.

Due to their bipartisan leadership, the Every Child Achieves Act was approved back in April by the HELP Committee, 22-0. I was proud to vote yes.

Let me repeat that – it passed 22-0, and because of that hard work led by Senators Alexander and Murray, we are currently debating ESEA in the Senate for the first time since 2001. 14 years!

This is a prime example of what is possible when the Senate functions as it should, and committees are actually able to legislate.

Recently, ten national education groups, representing educators, principals, school boards, superintendents, chief state school officers, parents and PTAs, and school business officials, called on the Senate to consider the Every Child Achieves Act, to reauthorize ESEA.

Daniel Domenech, executive director, The School Superintendents Association, wrote in a letter:

“The nation’s K-6th graders have spent every day of their K?12 experience under an outdated and broken ESEA. Our students want and deserve more.”

His remarks perfectly summarize the issues at hand.

Now, let me turn to a critical issue for states and school districts.

Over the last few years, the Administration has doubled down on federal mandates and has used the waiver process to create law by fiat - thereby circumventing Congress and allowing those who have a federal agenda in Washington to make decisions that are best left to states and school districts.

It is evident that waivers have been granted only to those states that agree to implement the Administration’s preferred education policies.

In fact, the New York Times has referred to the waiver process as “the most sweeping use of executive authority to rewrite federal education law since Washington expanded its involvement in education in the 1960s.” 

Under section 9401 of current law, the “Secretary may waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of this act for a state education agency, local education agency, Indian tribe or school” if that entity receives funds and requests a waiver.

Language included in the Every Child Achieves Act amends section 9401 to clarify that the waiver process is intended to be led by state and local requests, not Washington mandates.

This will help ensure the process is state driven and will allow for greater flexibility and innovation.

In July 2011, the Congressional Research Service issued a report providing an overview of the Secretary’s waiver authority under ESEA, and warned of potential legal limits and challenges to the Secretary’s flexibility proposal.

The report states, “If the Secretary did, as a condition of granting a waiver, require a grantee to take another action not currently required under the ESEA, the likelihood of a successful legal challenge will increase.”

Mr. President, I have worked long and hard for language in the bill on the floor today that will prohibit the Secretary from imposing any additional requirements to waiver requests not authorized by Congress.

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.

The Every Child Achieves Act in its current form 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.

Now, I would like to briefly discuss Common Core and the federal overreach in education.

Common Core started out as a state-led effort to create high standards that states would voluntarily adopt, but the Administration had different ideas.

In homes across America, parents are raising questions about what their children are being taught.

In many cases, parents are hearing that local curriculum decisions have been driven by the Common Core education standards that most states adopted in a hurry under federal pressure with little or no public input.

Decisions about what children are taught are best made on the local level as close to parents as possible.

The federal government should not have overriding influence over state and local education decisions.

 

Simply put, the Department of Education has incentivized and coerced states into implementing Common Core education standards.

Some within our education community in Kansas have even called this practice a “bribe.”

The Administration made it a criterion for states to adopt Common Core standards to have a reasonable chance to receive federal funding under the multibillion-dollar Race to the Top program and used federal funds to develop Common Core-aligned tests.

They have also threatened to withhold waivers from onerous provisions of No Child Left Behind if states do not adopt Common Core, or similarly aligned standards and assessments.

For that reason, earlier this year, I re-introduced the LOCAL Level Act, S. 182, to explicitly prohibit the federal government’s role and involvement in Common Core.

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.

Simply put, my legislation will preserve state education autonomy.

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.

I am pleased that the bill before us includes the language from my LOCAL Level Act, and will, once and for all, end the Administration’s use of waivers to force or incentivize states to adopt Common Core standards.

And it will end the Obama Administration’s – and, for that matter, any future administration’s – ability to use any tool of coercion to force states to adopt Common Core – or any set of standards at all, whether it’s Common Core by another name or some new set of standards. Period.

I want to thank Chairman Alexander for including my language because I firmly believe it will prohibit the administration from finding additional ways to promote a state’s adoption of Common Core.

Now, Mr. President, I want to emphasize setting high standards for our schools, our teachers and our children is the right thing to do, but we will decide those standards in Kansas.

We need to get the federal government out of the classroom, and return community decisions back to where they belong – in the community.

If the Every Child Achieves Act becomes law, we can finally say goodbye to federal interference in what we teach our kids in school.

Chairman Alexander has stated that with this bill, we have the first opportunity in 25 years to restore decision-making back to states, local school districts, superintendents, principals, teachers, local school boards, parents and especially students. He is right. 

 

###