On Wednesday, July 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, introduced by House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Klein (R-MN) by a vote of 218-213. The measure, which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and institute sweeping reforms to federal education policy, sets the stage for future debate as the Senate considers its own ESEA reauthorization legislation.
The bill has proven highly controversial since its introduction early this year due to its partisan nature and inclusion of major Republican education priorities, and was pulled from consideration in February amid concerns that it lacked the votes to pass. Major provisions in the final bill include the elimination of the widely lamented adequate yearly progress accountability system implemented under No Child Left Behind, a measure to prevent the U.S. Secretary of Education from adopting the Common Core State Standards in federal regulations and the elimination of the “highly qualified” teacher requirement. The bill also includes important CTE-related provisions, such as the inclusion of student CTE achievements on state report cards and the integration of academic and CTE content.
ESEA watchers will now need to wait for the Senate to complete its floor action on the Every Child Achieves Act, which is currently underway. If the Senate bill passes, the two chambers will attempt to bridge the gap between the bills in a conference committee – however, the White House has indicated that it will veto the House version of the legislation and expressed some reservations about the Senate bill, setting a challenging course for ESEA reauthorization going forward.
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