Heidi Alexander: “I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a copy of my opening remarks at the markup of the Every Child…”

“I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a copy of my opening remarks at the markup of the Every Child Achieves Act. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 We are meeting today to write legislation that will fix the problems with ``No Child Left Behind,'' the federal law causing confusion and anxiety in our country's 100,000 public schools. Working together the last few months, Senator Murray and I have found a consensus about the urgent need to fix these problems as well as a remarkable consensus about how to fix them. That consensus is this: Continue the law's important measurements of academic progress of students but restore to states, school districts, classroom teachers and parents the responsibility for deciding what to do about improving student achievement. This change should produce fewer tests and more appropriate ways to measure student achievement. It is the most effective path to advance higher state standards, better teaching, and real accountability. We have drafted a bill based upon this consensus which we will offer as a starting point for our deliberations. The problems with No Child Left Behind have been created by a combination of presidential action and congressional inaction.…”