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WASHINGTON –Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., today voted in favor of legislation to improve K-12 education by replacing No Child Left Behind with new policies to help every child access a high-quality education. The House passed H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, by a vote of 218 to 213.

The Student Success Act, which reforms and reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is a long-term solution that would prevent future federal overreach into elementary and secondary education, support effective teaching in the classroom, provide parents a stronger voice in education and restore local control.

“As a grandmother, educator and former school board member, I know students are best served when those at the local level are the driving force behind improving education. North Carolina teachers, parents and administrators – not Washington bureaucrats – should be in charge of making education decisions in our state,” said Foxx. “Currently states are forced to choose between the fundamentally flawed policies of No Child Left Behind, which doubled down on federal programs, mandates and spending, and the Obama administration’s controversial temporary, conditional waiver scheme, which has imposed the administration’s preferred policies and heightened the level of uncertainty shared by states and school districts. America’s students deserve better.”

The Student Success Act would: 

• Replace the current national accountability scheme based on high stakes tests with state-led accountability systems;
• Ensure parents continue to have the information they need to hold local schools accountable;
• Eliminate more than 65 ineffective, duplicative and unnecessary programs and consolidate funding into a Local Academic Flexible Grant;
• Protect state and local autonomy over decisions in the classroom by preventing the Secretary of Education from coercing states into adopting Common Core or any other common standards or assessments as well as reining in the secretary’s regulatory authority;
• Strengthen existing efforts to improve student performance among targeted student populations, including English learners and homeless children; and 
• Empower parents with more school choice options by continuing support for magnet schools and expanding charter school opportunities as well as allowing federal funds to follow low-income children to the traditional public or charter school of the parent’s choice.

“The Student Success Act empowers the people closest to students with the authority to make education choices in their respective states and communities. State and local governments can identify student needs and determine priorities better than the federal government,” said Foxx. “Local control always delivers programs and services more efficiently and effectively. By scaling back Washington’s one-size-fits-all micromanagement of classrooms, this legislation takes positive steps toward ensuring local educators have the flexibility required to meet the diverse needs of their students.”

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U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx represents North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District and is the elected Republican Conference Secretary. Dr. Foxx is the chair of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and serves as Vice Chair of the House Rules Committee.