On Wednesday, the House narrowly passed a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind law, 218-213, without any support from Democrats. The new, more conservative version gives school districts greater control over evaluating school, teacher, and student performances, and forbids the federal government from requiring or encouraging specific academic standards, like Common Core. It also lets federal funding stay with low-income students going to the public schools of their choice. The focus is now on the Senate, which is debating a similar measure.
Earlier, 49 House Republicans joined Democrats to defeat a bill 195-235 that would have allowed states to opt out of the No Child Left Behind requirements while still receiving federal funding. The original No Child Left Behind law was passed in 2001 and expired in 2007; it mandated extensive annual testing for elementary, middle, and high school students, with schools having to show improvements or face penalties. In 2012, the Obama administration started to give waivers to states where the requirements could not be met.
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