Todd Rokita: “I am pleased to offer the following Joint Statement of Legislative Intent on the Conference Report to accompany S. 1177…”

“I am pleased to offer the following Joint Statement of Legislative Intent on the Conference Report to accompany S. 1177, the Every Student Succeeds Act, on behalf of myself and Mr. John Kline, Chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee. Joint Statement of Legislative Intent on Conference Report to accompany S. 1177, the Every Student Succeeds Act Like our colleagues, we support this conference report because we believe states and school districts should be left to set their own education priorities. The House-passed bill included strong prohibitions that clearly did just that. The conference report maintains strong, unprecedented prohibitions on the Secretary of Education. For example, Section 1111(e) clearly states the Secretary may not add any requirements or criteria outside the scope of this act, and further says the Secretary may not ``be in excess of statutory authority given to the Secretary.'' This section goes on to lay out specific terms the Secretary cannot prescribe, sets clear limits on the guidance the Secretary may offer, and also clearly states that the Secretary is prohibited from defining terms that are inconsistent with or outside the scope of this Act. Then there are provisions in Titles I and VIII that ensure standards and curriculum are left to the discretion of states without federal control or mandates, and the same is true for assessments.…”