Rokita Welcomes President to Indiana; Urges Leadership in Replacing No Child Left Behind

Press Release

Today, Representative Todd Rokita welcomed President Barack Obama to Indiana, where he held a town hall on the campus of Ivy Tech Community College. Rep. Rokita met the President at Indianapolis International Airport, and took the opportunity to hand deliver a letter urging collaboration to rewrite No Child Left Behind. He issued the following statement after delivering the letter:

"Though the President comes to the Hoosier state today to gin up support for more federal programs that will increase spending and taxes, I wanted to extend a sincere, good-faith effort to work with him to reform our struggling K-12 education system. No Child Left Behind is outdated, which has resulted in heavy-handed intervention from the U.S. Department of Education. My letter asks the President to work with the Congress on solutions to return money, power, and choice to the state and local level. It asks that we get the federal government out of the Common Core. It asks that we promote school choice and increase access to quality education. Most importantly, it asks for leadership."

No Child Left Behind, which passed in 2002, is the most recent authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. To reauthorize this important law, Rep. Rokita, who serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, introduced the Student Success Act on Tuesday with Chairman John Kline. This legislation replaces outdated requirements, restores education control to the state and local level, and empowers families to choose the education that suits them best.

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