Sessions: ‘A One-Size-Fits-All Education System is Not Effective’

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the House Rules Committee, today released the following statement regarding the House’s passage of H.R. 5, Student Success Act:

“When it comes to our children’s education, I believe local communities know how to address their own needs better than Washington does, which is why I supported the Student Success Act today. It is for this same reason that I voted against No Child Left Behind in 2001 and am against Common Core – because Washington-based education policies simply do not work. This legislation fixes these flawed programs by replacing No Child Left Behind and limiting the power of the Obama administration to continue to force Common Core on American teachers, administrators, parents, and students. 

“Further, H.R. 5 eliminates more than 65 duplicative and ineffective programs, reduces the federal government’s footprint in our nation’s classrooms, and restores local control so that the students of North Texas and elsewhere around the country are able to achieve a brighter future. When it comes to our children’s education, a Washington-based, one-size-fits-all system is not effective because it does not take the individual needs of different communities into account.

“Despite the fact that overall funding per student has tripled since 1965, only 38 percent of high school seniors can read at grade level and just 26 percent are proficient in math. We can and must do better. H.R. 5 is an important first step in limiting the power of federal bureaucrats and, instead, empowering parents, local communities and our state and local governments to enact meaningful policies that will allow students educated in America to once again be the best and brightest in the world.”

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Created:
Jul 8, 2015