Senate Passes Local Control of Education Act as a Budget Amendment

Photo credit: UpstateNYer (CC-By-SA 3.0)

The U.S. Senate today passed the Local Control of Education Act, sponsored by U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana), as a budget amendment.

Vitter, who once supported the Common Core, filed the bill back in January.  U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Steve Daines (R-Montana) were co-sponsors.  The Senate Republican Caucus voted unanimously for the measure that amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 with the following language at the end:

“(e) Prohibition Of Federal Government Mandating Common Standards, Programs Of Instruction, Curricula, Assessments, Or Academic Standards.—An officer or employee of the Federal Government shall not directly or indirectly, through grants, contracts, or other cooperative agreements under this Act (including waivers under section 9401)—

“(1) mandate, direct, or control a State, local educational agency, or school’s specific instructional content or any specific academic standard, assessment, curriculum, or program of instruction, including through any requirement, direction, condition, or mandate to adopt

“(A) the Common Core State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards Initiative, any other academic standards common to a number of States, or any specific statewide or nationally recognized content standards; or

“(B) any assessment, instructional content, or curriculum aligned to, or based on, specific academic standards, including any of the standards described in subparagraph (A);

“(2) incentivize a State, local educational agency, or school to adopt any specific instructional content, academic standard, assessment, curriculum, commonality of standards or assessments, or program of instruction described in paragraph (1), which shall include providing any priority, preference, or special consideration during the application process based on any specific content, standard, assessment, curriculum, commonality, or program; or

“(3) make financial support available in a manner that is conditioned upon a State, local educational agency, or school’s adoption of any specific instructional content, academic standard, assessment, curriculum, commonality of standards or assessments, or program of instruction described in paragraph (1), even if such requirements are specified in section 14006 or 14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 281) or any other Act.”.

(b) Conforming Amendment.—Section 9527(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7907(a)) is amended by striking “curriculum, program of instruction, or”.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING ADOPTION OF COMMON STANDARDS WITH RESPECT TO WAIVERS.

(a) Prohibition.—Section 9401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7861) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(h) Prohibition On Requiring Certain Standards For Waivers.—

“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not require that a State, local educational agency, Indian tribe, or school adopt, as a prerequisite or condition for any waiver under this section, any specific instructional content, academic standard, assessment, curriculum, or program of instruction, including—

“(A) the Common Core State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards Initiative, any other academic standards common to a number of States, or any specific statewide or nationally recognized content standards; or

“(B) any assessment, instructional content, or curriculum aligned to, or based on, any specific academic standards, including any of the standards described in subparagraph (A).

“(2) EFFECT ON PREVIOUSLY ISSUED WAIVERS.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—Any requirement described in paragraph (1) that was required for a waiver provided to a State, local educational agency, Indian tribe, or school under this section before the date of enactment of the Local Control of Education Act shall be void and have no force of law.

“(B) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.—The Secretary shall not—

“(i) enforce any requirement that is void pursuant to subparagraph (A); and

“(ii) require the State, local educational agency, Indian tribe, or school to reapply for a waiver, or to agree to any other conditions to replace any requirements that is void pursuant to subparagraph (A), until the end of the period of time specified under the waiver.

“(C) NO EFFECT ON OTHER PROVISIONS.—Any other provisions or requirements of a waiver provided under this section before the date of enactment of the Local Control of Education Act that are not affected by subparagraph (A) shall remain in effect for the period of time specified under the waiver.”.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION IN RACE TO THE TOP FUNDING.

Title XIV of Division A of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) is amended by inserting after section 14007 the following:

“SEC. 14007A. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING OR PREFERRING COMMON STANDARDS.

“The prohibitions of section 9527(e) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 shall apply to each grant awarded under section 14006 or 14007 in the same manner as such prohibitions apply to a grant awarded under such Act.”

So if this becomes law states who, under the 10th Amendment, already have the ability to drop the Common Core can do so without fear of reprisal from the U.S. Department of Education if they have a NCLB flexibility waiver or Race to the Top grant.

It would also prevent conditional grants like what we saw with Race to the Top.

In related news… U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) released co-signers of a letter they started circulating earlier this month asking for an appropriations rider to block  further federal overreach in pushing the Common Core standards and assessments on states.

Vitter’s amendment may accomplish that.

Here is the final Senate letter and House letter.  The co-signers are:

Senators Grassley, Roberts, Inhofe, Fischer, Isakson, Daines, Cruz, Lee, Purdue, Enzi, Barrasso, Sessions, Vitter

Representatives King, Babin, Benishek, Blackburn, Blum, Byrne, Crawford, Jeff Duncan, Forbes, Franks, Garrett, Gibbs, Gohmert, Gosar, Grothman, Hartzler, Hensarling, Huelskamp, Hultgren, Jenkins, Johnson, Walter B. Jones, Kelly, Latta, Massie, Jeff Miller, Olson, Pompeo, Posey, Rohrabacher, Rothfus, Salmon, Ann Wagner, Wenstrup

Help Recruit Cosigners for Grassley and King’s Common Core Defunding Letters

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) needs our help.  He is leading the charge in the U.S. Senate to defund the Common Core State Standards.  He is looking for co-signers for a letter that will be sent to the leaders of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee – Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) asking that they include language in their next appropriations bill to block the further use of any funding from the U.S. Department of Education to incentivize or otherwise coerce states into adopting and retaining the Common Core State Standards.

Congressman Steve King (R-IA) has a similar letter in the House of Representatives.

As of Monday, Senator Grassley’s letter had only two confirmed co-signers: Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and James Inhofe (R-OK).

The deadline for both letters is the close of business tomorrow.  So please contact your Representative and Senators TODAY!

The text of Grassley’s letter is below (King’s letter is practically identical):

Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Moran:

We ask that the Fiscal Year 2015 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriation Bill include language to restore state decision-making and accountability with respect to state academic content standards.  The decision about what students should be taught and when it should be taught has enormous consequences for our children.  Therefore, parents out to have a straight line of accountability to those who are making such decisions.  Those decisions should be made at the state or local level, free from any pressure from the U.S. Department of Education.

We support eliminating further interference by the U.S. Department of Education with respect to state decisions on academic content standards by including the following language in the Fiscal Year 2015 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill:

(a)In General – Funds appropriated under this Act or any prior Act shall not be used by the Secretary of Education –

(1) to require a State or local educational agency to develop or implement any set of academic content standards common to multiple States, including the Common Core State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards Initiative, or any other specified set or type of academic content standards selected by the Secretary, or assessments aligned with such standards, including as a condition of approval of a State plan submitted to the Secretary an application for a waiver issued by such Secretary under section 9401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7861), or as a condition of approval or competitive preference for an award of Federal funds under any grant, contract, or cooperative agreement;

(2) to establish any criterion that specifies, defines or prescribes the standards or measures that a State or local educational agency uses to establish, implement, or improve academic content standards, academic achievement standards, academic assessments, accountability systems, systems that measure student growth, measures of other academic indicators, or teacher and principal evaluation systems; or

(3) to award any grant, contract, or cooperative agreement to a consortium of States that requires or specifically authorizes the development of assessments aligned with any set of academic content standards common to multiple States, including the Common Core State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards Initiative, or any other specified set or type of academic content standards selected by the Secretary.

(b) Rule of Construction. – Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed to limit the discretion of an individual State or local education agency to use funds provided through a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement that does not otherwise violate subsection (a) for any purpose consistent with the terms of the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, including the development or implementation of any set of content standards, assessments, or curricula that the State or local educational agency chooses to develop or implement without regard to a Federal requirement or incentive.

Thank you for your consideration of our request.

Originally posted at American Principles in Action.

Photo credit: Matt Wade (CC-By-SA 3.0)

Education Debated in Iowa Congressional Race

Congressman Steve King (R-Kiron) and former First Lady of Iowa Christie Vilsack (D-Ames) had their final debate in the Iowa 4th Congressional District race.  The first question dealt with No Child Left Behind.  Below is the audio of that section of the debate from Iowans for Local Control.

http://www.facebook.com/v/10152105644730524

I’m curious is education being discussed in Congressional races and Senate races in your state? I wish they would have covered Race to the Top and the Common Core State Standards, but I’m surprised they even asked this question.

Update: You can read my additional thoughts here.