Mazie Hirono: “I rise to discuss the Every Child Achieves Act, S. 1177, which replaces the education law better known as No Child Left…”

“I rise to discuss the Every Child Achieves Act, S. 1177, which replaces the education law better known as No Child Left Behind. I wish to thank the HELP Committee Chairman Alexander and ranking member Patty Murray for their hard work on today's bipartisan compromise bill. Today's Every Child Achieves Act isn't perfect, but it makes good progress. For years, I have heard from Hawaii's teachers, parents, and administrators that No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, is broken. It is time to leave NCLB behind. I have been working to fix this broken law, first as a member of the House of Representatives' Education and Labor Committee in 2007 and now as a Senator. I also began to work on education reform when I was Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii. I will start with one of the biggest problems with NCLB, which is the testing requirements. I heard from teachers in Hawaii loud and clear that NCLB brought us too much testing. Teachers and students in some schools spent so much time on testing and test prep that they didn't have enough time for teaching and learning. Today's bill includes Senator Baldwin's SMART Act legislation, which I cosponsored, to cut redundant State and local tests, and it also includes Senator Bennet's amendment that sets a cap on the percent of time spent on testing. I also strongly support the early education parts of this program as negotiated by Senator Murray, herself a former preschool teacher.…”