President Obama Signs Education Law, Leaving 'No Child' Behind

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http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/10/459219774/president-obama-signs-education-law-leaving-no-child-behind


President Obama Signs Education Law, Leaving 'No Child' Behind

Updated December 10, 2015·1:09 PM ET

Cory Turner

President Obama called it "a Christmas miracle. A bipartisan bill signing right here."

The "right here" was the South Court Auditorium, part of the White House complex. More importantly, the bipartisan bill being signed was the Every Student Succeeds Act — a long-overdue replacement of the unpopular federal education law known as No Child Left Behind.

The new law changes much about the federal government's role in education, largely by scaling back Washington's influence. While ESSA keeps in place the basic testing requirements of No Child Left Behind, it strips away many of the high stakes that had been attached to student scores.

The job of evaluating schools and deciding how to fix them will shift largely back to states. Gone too is the requirement, added several years ago by the Obama administration, that states use student scores to evaluate teachers.

The new law, which passed the House and Senate with rare, resounding bipartisan support, would also expand access to high-quality preschool.
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