John Kline: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Let me thank my colleague from Washington for her leadership on this important…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Let me thank my colleague from Washington for her leadership on this important issue and for her remarks today. I understand the passion and knowledge she brings to this topic. Throughout this reauthorization process, we have sought to recalibrate the Federal role in education, undoing the excesses of the past while maintaining provisions of the law that ensure parents and communities have the information they need to evaluate their schools' and students' performance. As the gentlewoman acknowledged, we do maintain requirements for disaggregated achievement data so special needs students' achievement won't be masked by high averages among all students. On the topic of the gentlewoman's amendment, we do maintain current requirements that narrowly define the population of students eligible to take an alternate assessment. I believe these are important provisions that will limit the possibility of abuse by schools. That said, I share my colleague's desire to see all students, including those with special needs, succeed in school and beyond. And I'm happy to work with her and other Members on this issue as the reauthorization process continues. Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. I yield back the balance of my time.”