WASHINGTON, DC – Congress is on the verge of approving a major overhaul of federal education law that will give states and school districts more flexibility while raising student achievement in the classroom and providing schools and teachers with new resources and support.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) helped author key sections of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and seeks to fix the broken Bush-era No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education law that was signed into law nearly fourteen years ago.

After years of work, and extensive negotiations between the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, the House this week adopted the compromise measure that contains a number of the education priorities Senator Reed spearheaded, including improving access to effective school library programs, enhancing professional development for teachers and principals, increasing the focus on resource equity, and strengthening family engagement and environmental education initiatives.

“The No Child Left Behind law was well intentioned, but flawed and underfunded.  This represents a significant improvement.  We need to set high expectations for all students and empower states and school districts to help them achieve,” said Reed.

ESSA will help ensure all students have access to a high-quality public education.  It allows states to develop more holistic and robust accountability systems that move beyond test scores as the sole measure of school success.  It also includes federal protections to help ensure that all students -- regardless of family income, race, ethnicity, or disability -- graduate from high school ready for the next step, whether it be college or the workforce.

“Our challenge and our responsibility is to create and support learning environments that enable young people to hone their talents, discover their skills, and pursue their passions.  This bipartisan education bill advances those fundamental goals,” continued Reed.  "The Every Student Succeeds Act isn't perfect, but it will improve the way we approach education in this country, and it will put our young people on a clearer path to sustained achievement both inside and outside of the classroom.  The ESSA maintains the critical transparency for results and high expectations for all students, while updating the parts of NCLB that have become unworkable and counterproductive.”

Several Reed-authored measures were included in the final bill, including provisions from the Core Opportunity Resources for Equity and Excellence (CORE) Act, which will bring some long-overdue transparency to resource equity to schools and require states to report on key measures of school quality beyond student achievement on statewide assessments, including: student access to experienced and effective educators; access to rigorous and advanced coursework; availability of career and technical educational opportunities; and safe and healthy school learning environments.

“At its core, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is about more than the opportunity to earn a high school diploma.  It is about preparing young people for what comes next: postsecondary education, careers, and a lifetime of learning and civic engagement.  I am convinced that if we provide schools with equitable resources and equal access to those resources, support our teachers and principals, and engage parents in their child's education, students will thrive," concluded Reed.

Senator Reed's legislation and priorities included in the ESSA package include:

Greater transparency on and accountability for resource equity (CORE Act) – The Every Student Succeeds Act requires that states and school districts include information on resource equity such as access to experienced and effective educators, the ability to pursue advanced coursework, and other school quality and school climate indicators.  The ESSA also requires states to include a school climate or resource-equity measure as an additional indicator in their state accountability system.  Additionally, the conference agreement requires that schools districts identify and address resource inequities for schools needing comprehensive support and improvement.

Supporting Environmental Literacy (No Child Left Inside Act) – The Every Student Succeeds Act includes provisions from Reed’s No Child Left Inside (NCLI) Act to allow school districts to integrate environmental education into their programs for well-rounded education as well as their afterschool programs.  The measure will support environmental education and hands-on, field-based learning experiences in schools across the country.  Reed and Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD) have been working together since 2007 to pass legislation to help schools build environmental literacy programs, strengthen teacher training, and provide competitive grants to help schools and non-profits pay for outdoor education.

Supporting Educators (BEST Act) – The Every Student Succeeds Act includes key provisions of Reed’s BEST Act, enabling states and school districts to support teachers, principals, and other educators at the start of their careers through induction and residency programs and over the course of the careers through high quality, job-embedded professional development and career advancement opportunities.  The ESSA also includes critical Reed-authored provisions that allow states to use Title II funds to implement educator equity plans so that low-income and minority students have the same access to effective educators as their more advantaged peers.

Supporting Effective School Library Programs (SKILLS Act) – The Every Student Succeeds Act includes an authorization for developing and enhancing effective school library programs, which may include professional development for school librarians and support for up-to-date books and materials.  The legislation also includes the bipartisan amendment Senator Reed wrote with Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) to encourage school districts to address access to effective school library programs as part of their Title I plans and through their professional development programs. 

Strengthening Literacy (Prescribe a Book Act) – The Every Student Succeeds Act includes Reed’s provisions to strengthen literacy by providing disadvantaged children with access to books, including in pediatric health care settings, modeled on the successful Reach Out and Read Program.

Strengthening Family Engagement (Family Engagement in Education Act) – The Every Student Succeeds Act includes Senator Reed’s provisions to encourage school districts to reserve more than one percent of their Title I allocation for family engagement activities, and to establish statewide family engagement centers to provide technical assistance and support to districts and schools in implementing evidence-based family engagement strategies

The House voted 359-64 to approve the ESSA conference report.  The measure must now be voted on by the U.S. Senate before it can be sent to the President to be signed into law.  The Senate is expected to hold a final vote next week.

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