U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Statement on Bipartisan Legislation to Fix "No Child Left Behind"
Statement
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the United States Senate passed the bipartisan Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 (ECAA), which is a bill to rewrite the broken No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. The bill, which includes several Baldwin-authored provisions, must now be reconciled with the partisan measure passed the House of Representatives 218-213 earlier this month.
"The Every Child Achieves Act is a strong bipartisan step forward as we work to finally fix the broken No Child Left Behind law, which was a one-size-fits-all approach that simply did not work for Wisconsin educators or students. Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray, today we put politics aside in order to get closer to fulfilling the fifty-year-old promise of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that every child has the opportunity to achieve.
"However, this legislation is far from perfect and I am disappointed my colleagues on the other side of the aisle could not support efforts to ensure that core educational resources are equitable and available to all children, regardless of where they live or how much their parents make. I also believe our accountability systems must be strengthened, so low-income and minority students, and students with disabilities do not fall through the cracks. We must do more to close our achievement and opportunity gaps. In addition, it is imperative that our children have a safe environment in which they can learn, and we must work to protect each and every student from bullying, harassment and discrimination in our nation's schools.
"As a member of the HELP Committee, I will continue my work on these priorities and others as Congress takes the next step to enact a bill that truly fulfills the promise of ESEA for children and families in Wisconsin and all across this country."
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