Heidi Alexander: “the Senator from Washington is going to speak in just a moment, but while the Senator from Georgia is on the floor, I…”

“the Senator from Washington is going to speak in just a moment, but while the Senator from Georgia is on the floor, I thank him for his huge contribution to this bill that would fix No Child Left Behind. No committee member has been more valuable than he. He has worked with Senator Murray to include within a provision an important step on early childhood education. He has used his experience as chairman of the Georgia State Board of Education and as a member of the education committee in both the Senate and the House to help us know how to do a better job here. He is the champion of giving parents the right to know whether their State gives them the opportunity to opt out of the federally required tests. That is his amendment today. And he was the sponsor of the amendment that appears in the Alexander-Murray bill, which gives States the express authority to decide whether the parents may opt their children out of the tests. So the Isakson amendment says: Give States the power to provide the opt-out, and it gives parents the opportunity to know enough information to be able to do it. That is consistent with this legislation, which requires the important measurements of achievement so we can know whether children are achieving and whether schools are achieving, but then restores to States and local school boards, classroom teachers, and parents the decisions about how to help those children achieve.…”