U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee (Update: Student Success Act / H.R. 5)

Congressman John Kline, Chairman

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 24, 2013 CONTACT: Press Office (202) 226-9440 Roby: Student Success Act Gets Washington Bureaucrats Out of K-12 Schools WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Education and the Workforce Committee Republicans today released the first in a series of videos highlighting the four key principles of the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), legislation to reform the nation’s K-12 education system.Watch Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) explain how the bill will reduce federal intrusion in schools and put more control in the hands of state and local leaders: We can’t afford to keep doing the same thing expecting different results. By getting Washington out of the way, the Student Success Act will help ensure a brighter future for our kids. The Student Success Act: Reins in the Secretary of Education by prohibiting the secretary from coercing states into adopting specific academic standards and imposing extraneous conditions on state and school districts in exchange for a waiver of K-12 education law.   Protects state and local autonomy over decisions in the classroom by removing the secretary’s authority to add new requirements to federal programs.   Prioritizes state and local decision-making by scrapping the federally-dictated accountability and school improvement systems and the onerous Highly Qualified Teacher requirements, instead empowering states to develop and implement individual systems that are more closely aligned with local priorities.   Eliminates more than 70 federal K-12 education programs, consolidating program funding into a Local Academic Flexible Grant that school districts will use to support local priorities.   Repeals federal funding requirements that arbitrarily restrict state and local policymakers’ ability to set their own budget priorities. In a video released last week, Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chairman Todd Rokita (R-IN) discussed the challenges facing our schools and the need for reform. To watch the video, click here. To learn more about H.R. 5 and the committee’s efforts to reduce the federal footprint in education, visit edworkforce.house.gov/StudentSuccessAct.   # # #