The No Child Left Behind law was pitched into the dustbin of history on Wednesday when the Senate voted 85-to-12 to replace the law, which set impossible standards and punished failing schools, with the more lenient Every Student Succeeds Act.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign the legislation.
The bill is the vehicle for most of the federal education dollars targeted to low income schools, known as Title 1. The Every Student Succeeds Act authorizes an additional $1.2 billion for schools nationwide, including $41 million for struggling communities in Vermont over the next four years, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who sits on the Senate Education Committee.
The Every Student Succeeds Act will replace the derided No Child Left Behind Law introduced by George W. Bush in 2001. Before that, the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act guided federal involvement in K-12 public education.
“The overwhelming support in Congress for these reforms will reverse the one-size-fits-all approach to education that did not work for Vermont and so many schools across the nation,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a press release. “This bill gives States more flexibility to ensure that schools are supporting every student while maintaining the federal government’s responsibility to ensure that students everywhere have access to the resources they need for lasting academic success.”
