Third Way Statement on Senate Passage of an Update to No Child Left Behind

Today Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, Director of Social Policy & Politics, issued the following statement upon the Senate’s passage of an update to No Child Left Behind (NCLB):

We applaud the Senate for taking the next major step toward improving K-12 education in this country and strongly urge Members in both parties on both sides of the Capitol to do the remaining work to perfect the legislation and get it to the President’s desk.

There is no question that NCLB needs updating. Senators Alexander and Murray should be commended for their exceptional work negotiating a thoughtful, bipartisan bill that would address nearly every NCLB complaint while keeping in place many of the crucial federal guardrails that have begun to spur gains in student achievement, especially for students who before would’ve fallen through the cracks. We hope the final bill will add one more necessary piece, as laid out in the amendment offered by Senator Chris Murphy. Because while states and districts should have much more autonomy over how to fix schools that aren’t working for students, they cannot be allowed to simply ignore them—they must act. There is so much agreement on this bill, and we are confident that fixing these last few lines is doable.

For the sake of states, districts, teachers, parents, and students, it’s time for Congress to step up and bring federal education law into the current decade.