Every Child Achieves Act 2015--Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I wish to begin by taking a few moments to discuss the nuclear deal with Iran that was announced this morning. While I am still reviewing the intricacies of the deal, right now I am deeply skeptical that this agreement will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

The Obama administration appears to have capitulated on almost every redline it established at the outset, and I have strong doubts about whether the final provisions requiring inspections and curtailing enrichment and research and development are strong enough to be effective.

Another significant concern is the fact that removal of sanctions will give Iran access to billions of dollars and other resources to fund its campaign for increased regional influence, which includes proxy wars and material support for terrorist organizations. In fact, if we look at almost anywhere in the Middle East, whether it is Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in the Gaza Strip or the Houthis in Yemen or the Shia militias in Iraq, they all trace their lineage back to and are proxies for Iran.

I am deeply concerned about the fact that the deal creates a timeline for lifting the embargo on conventional and ballistic weapons without requiring Iran to change its behavior in any meaningful way. Given that Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and is already intervening in conflicts in the region, the last thing we should be doing is expanding Iran's access to weapons.

In the lead-up to this agreement, Members of both parties expressed their concerns about the direction this deal was headed, and the release of the final document has confirmed many of those fears. Unfortunately, the President is apparently unwilling to listen to Members of either party, and in his speech this morning he threatened to veto any legislation that would prevent his deal from going into effect. Well, that is very disappointing, and it lends credence to the concern that the President is more worried about securing his political legacy than he is about actually preventing Iran from acquiring a weapon.

Regardless of his veto threat, Members of both parties will carefully examine this deal and continue to do everything we can to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.

Mr. President, I wish to speak as well this week about what the Senate is currently doing. The Senate is taking a huge step forward on education.

Nearly 8 years after No Child Left Behind expired, Congress is finally taking up legislation to reauthorize Federal K-12 education programs. While the law's focus on improving education for our students was laudable, No Child Left Behind must be updated. The Every Child Achieves Act--the legislation we are considering this week--will restore control of education to the people who know students best: teachers, parents, and local school boards.

Just 10 percent of education funding each year comes from the Federal Government. Despite this, the Federal Government has a huge oversight role in education. Every day, teachers and administrators and students have their day shaped by a host of Federal mandates, from testing requirements to precisely what to do if a school is deemed ``failing.''

Federal control of education has reached its peak in recent years, with the Federal Government going so far as to coerce States into adopting its preferred curriculum and educational standards.

No Child Left Behind demanded that schools meet a number of benchmarks to be judged as adequate. Failure to meet these requirements would result in a school being labeled as failing. Unfortunately, the rigid nature of these standards meant that many schools were at risk of being labeled as failing. In response, States have made it a habit to apply to the Federal Government for waivers from the terms of the law so they can avoid the burdensome requirements that come along with the ``failing'' label. The Obama administration has generally complied--but with Federal strings attached. Essentially, the administration informs States that it is happy to grant them waivers as long as they agree to implement the Federal Government's preferred academic standards, adopt the Federal Government's preferred method of evaluating teachers, and take the steps the Federal Government believes are the appropriate steps to address failing schools.

Neither Congress nor the administration should be telling States and local communities what to teach in their schools. Decisions about education should be made by those who actually educate students, not by a group of bureaucrats or politicians in Washington, DC.

As any teacher will tell us, education is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Even within a single classroom, students are likely to come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences and have different learning styles. Teachers are constantly adapting their methods and material to meet the needs of the particular students they have in front of them. That is a lot harder to do when Washington is dictating those methods.

The legislation we are considering today--the Every Child Achieves Act--will revoke the Federal Government's authority to dictate standards to the States. Specifically, this legislation explicitly prohibits the Federal Government from tying Federal funds to a State's adoption of specific educational standards. In other words, the Federal Government will no longer be able to blackmail States into adopting its preferred academic criteria.

This is a huge victory for students and for teachers. Thanks to this legislation, States and localities will have much more freedom to adopt the standards and curricula that will help their students achieve.

Another one of the problems created by No Child Left Behind, as any parent or teacher will tell you, is the phenomenon of overtesting. I have received hundreds of letters this year from teachers and parents concerned about the effect overtesting is having on students' education.

While NCLB only required two or three tests per year, the law made these tests the primary indicator of a school's performance, which resulted in many schools deciding to teach to the test. The result? Not surprisingly, instead of teachers deciding what is important material based upon their knowledge of their subject, teachers' instructional priorities are often dictated by the material they think will be on the required tests. As a result, students may never receive instruction in important topics or concepts simply because they are not covered on the tests. In addition, instead of one or two yearly tests required by law, students are subject to months of preparatory testing in order to make sure the school maintains its ranking by gaining acceptable average scores on the mandated tests.

It is undoubtedly true that the tests, including standardized tests, can be incredibly useful in the teaching process both as a diagnostic tool and as a measurement of student progress, but problems arise when tests become the only measure of progress.

The Every Child Achieves Act keeps the testing requirements of No Child Left Behind but gives States the option to give a single comprehensive test, as they do now, or break up the assessment into smaller components that can be given throughout the school year.

Most importantly, the Every Child Achieves Act removes test results as the primary indicator of a school's performance. In fact, it takes progress measurements out of the hands of the Federal Government entirely and gives them to the States. Under this bill, States, not the Federal Government, will be the ones developing accountability systems to measure schools' effectiveness. Instead of a one-size-fits-all Federal standard, each State will be able to identify the best ways to chart the progress of its schools and measure student performance.

In addition, the Every Child Achieves Act removes the Federal Government's national teacher evaluation requirements and allows States to decide whether and how to measure the effectiveness of their teachers.

I have offered several amendments to the Every Child Achieves Act, including two very important measures to address the tragic rash of student suicides that has beset Indian Country over the past several months. The first of these amendments would require the Secretary of Education to coordinate with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report on their Federal response to these suicides, compile and analyze available Federal resources, and make recommendations for improving Federal programs. The second measure would strengthen the Project School Emergency Response to Violence Program--or Project SERV--to help schools prevent tragedies such as youth suicide. I am hopeful that the Senate will pass both of these measures.

I am also pleased that the underlying bill contains important improvements that I championed to the Federal Impact Aid Program--a program that provides districts with revenue to make up for nontaxable Federal activity in school districts.

The reforms contained in the Every Child Achieves Act have been a long time coming, and they have been greeted eagerly. This bill is supported by everyone from the school superintendents organization, to the National Governors Association, to Teach for America. And, of course, this legislation is strongly supported by both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.

One big reason a No Child Left Behind reauthorization has moved from legislation no Member of Congress wanted to touch to the bipartisan bill that is before us today is Republicans' commitment to restoring regular order to the Senate. We have restored the committee process and ensured that Members of both parties are able to make their voices heard through amendments. The result is legislation like the Every Child Achieves Act--a bill with strong bipartisan authorship and strong bipartisan support. I hope we will have many more achievements like this in the Republican-led Senate this year.

We need to get control out of the hands of Washington bureaucrats--people who have never been to South Dakota, much less a South Dakota school. They shouldn't be telling South Dakota teachers what to teach. The legislation before us today will help strengthen education in this country by putting decisionmaking about education where it belongs--in the hands of State and local school districts. I look forward to the Senate passing this bill later this week.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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