USA Today – Erin Kelly
“A bipartisan education bill to replace the controversial No Child Left Behind law and reduce the federal government’s power over schools cleared its first big hurdle Thursday. The Every Child Succeeds Act, from Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., was approved by a vote of 22-0 by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee after three days of debate and the adoption of nearly 30 amendments. Supporters said the bill would “fix” the No Child Left Behind law that governs the nation’s approximately 100,000 K-12 public schools. Critics say that law – signed by President George W. Bush in 2002 – placed too much emphasis on judging and punishing schools based on student test scores and gave the federal government too big a role in deciding how best to improve local schools. The law expired in 2007, but states still have to abide by its requirements until a new law replaces it.”(more)