article by Emma Brown via washingtonpost.com
The Senate voted on Monday to confirm John King Jr. as U.S. Education Secretary, a move that shows that education has become a rare issue on which a polarized Washington can reach bipartisan compromise.
Seven Republicans joined Democrats in voting 49 to 40 in favor of King’s confirmation at a time when key GOP senators are refusing to even consider an Obama nominee to the Supreme Court.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) — chairman of the education committee who previously served as education secretary under President George H.W. Bush — urged his colleagues to confirm King, arguing that the education department needs a leader who can be held to account as the nation implements a sweeping new education law that replaced the long-maligned No Child Left Behind.
“This vote is not about whether one of us would have chosen Dr. King to be the education secretary. Republicans won’t have the privilege of picking an education secretary until we elect the president of the United States,” Alexander said Monday, 25 years to the day after his own Senate confirmation. “We need a United States Education Secretary confirmed by and accountable to the United States Senate so that the law to fix No Child Left Behind will be implemented the way Congress wrote it.”
King, 41, has been serving as acting secretary since his predecessor Arne Duncan stepped down at the end of 2015. A former teacher, principal and charter-school founder, he led New York’s state education department from 2011 until 2014, when he joined the U.S. Education Department.
Posts tagged as “Every Student Succeeds Act”
Saying “every child, regardless of race, income, or zip code, deserves a shot at a great education,” President Barack Obama on Thursday signed a measure to revamp No Child Left Behind, according to CBS News.
No Child Left Behind, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2001, required federal involvement in the nation’s public schools over the last decade.
The Every Student Succeeds Act, signed Thursday by Obama, dramatically curtails the federal government’s role in students’ education. Now, states and local school districts will have more authority over school performance and accountability, the report says:
Mr. Obama said the “Every Student Succeeds Act” focuses on ensuring that students graduate from high school and are prepared for college and their careers.
“It builds on the reforms that have helped us make so much progress already, holding to high standards for teaching and learning, empowering states and school districts to develop their own strategies for improvement, dedicating our resources to our most vulnerable children,” said Mr. Obama, who explained that it replaces the “one-size-fits-all” approach from the No Child Left Behind law.
RT if you agree:
Every child,
regardless of
race,
income,
or zip code,
deserves a shot at a great education. #ESSA https://t.co/vicVvASRNd— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) December 10, 2015
The President explained that Every Student Succeeds lays the foundation to expand access to “high-quality pre-schools.”
article by Lynette Holloway via newsone.com