Randy Dorn on replacement of No Child Left Behind Act

President Obama signed ESSA into law Thursday morning. Below is a statement from State Superintendent of Public Education Randy Dorn on this bipartisan effort to do what’s right for kids.

From Randy Dorn

When President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law this morning, he put states back into the driver’s seat when it comes to education. ESSA replaces No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) enacted in 2002. And it was long overdue. I applaud Senators Patty Murray and Lamar Alexander for their bipartisan efforts to do what’s best for students.

The intent behind NCLB was a good one: to raise standards, hold schools accountable, and eliminate the achievement gap. Most states have come a long way since 2002 as a result of NCLB. But the ultimate goal of NCLB, to get every student performing at grade-level by 2014, was impossible to achieve, in practice.

Under ESSA, states can set their own goals and decide how to intervene in schools that need more support. State plans still must be approved by the Department of Education, but they have been promised more transparency in the process.

That this law was able to make it through the Congress and Senate, and be signed by the President, is a testament to strong leadership and the desire to put the interest of our nation’s students above politics. I hope our state legislators can use this as an example when they come back to Olympia in January to tackle the ongoing lack of full funding for basic education. We need leaders to do what’s right for our state’s kids.