Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. 5, Student Success Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I like my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but saying that we are politicizing some issues is a little bit just stretching the issue, it seems to me.
The question before the House is: Should the House now consider H. Res. 125? This has nothing to do with UMRA. CBO estimates that H.R. 5 contains no intergovernmental or private sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, or UMRA. This is a dilatory tactic and, I might add, a bit of a political tactic, which is what we are accused of.
As the gentleman from Colorado is aware, we are currently waiting on a bill from the Senate. We currently have a rule before us that provides for consideration of over 40 amendments, including two from the gentleman from Colorado, to an important education bill. There is no reason to prevent consideration of this rule while we wait for the Senate to do its work.
In order to allow the House to continue its scheduled business for the day, I urge Members to vote ``yes'' on the question of consideration of the resolution.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 125 provides for a structured rule providing for the consideration of a number of amendments to H.R. 5, the Student Success Act.
My colleagues on the House Education and the Workforce Committee and I have been working to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Our efforts in reauthorization have centered on four principles: reducing the Federal footprint in education, empowering parents, supporting effective teachers, and restoring local control.
H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, ensures that local communities have the flexibility needed to meet the needs of their students. This legislation reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as ESEA, for 5 years while making commonsense changes to update the law and address some of the concerns raised following the last reauthorization.
Despite good intentions, there is widespread agreement that the current law is no longer effectively serving students. Instead of working with Congress to reauthorize ESEA, the Obama administration began offering States temporary waivers in 2011 to exempt them from onerous requirements in exchange for new Federal mandates from the Department of Education. These waivers are a short-term fix to a long-term problem and leave States and districts with uncertainty about whether they will again be subject to the failing law and if the administration will change the requirements necessary to receive a waiver.
It is time to give students, parents, teachers, and school districts the certainty to make decisions and the flexibility to make the best decisions for their communities. H.R. 5 is a step in the right direction and will provide this certainty and flexibility.
Since Republicans returned to the majority in the House in 2011, we have held 20 hearings on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The committee considered five reauthorization bills in four markups in the 112th Congress in addition to a markup and a favorable reporting of H.R. 5 in 2013 and again this month.
I am pleased to work with my colleagues on the Rules Committee to report rules for floor debate and the consideration of legislation that promotes transparency and participation. In this case, I think we will have a terrific opportunity to further improve the bill through the amendment process. Forty-four amendments are made in order by this rule, including over 20 Democratic amendments and nine bipartisan amendments. The House will have the opportunity to work its will. I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I was going to remark on the fact that our colleague from Colorado has given us some levity, but it has been so long since the levity occurred, I am not sure anybody would remember it.
However, I do think it is important to point out that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle continually tell us how our legislation falls short of the ideal that they would like to see.
I would like to remind our colleagues that, for 2 years, the Democrats were in control of the House and the Senate. Two years, they had the House and the Senate and the White House.
If they had been so interested in reauthorizing this legislation and lots of other legislation that they criticize us about, they should have brought that ideal legislation forward at that time and passed it.
I would also like to point out, despite what our colleague says about no hearings on this bill, that since we returned to the majority in the House in 2011, we have held 20 hearings on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The committee considered five reauthorization bills in four markups in the 112th Congress, in addition to a markup and the favorably reporting of H.R. 5 in 2013 and again this month.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague from Georgia (Mr. Allen).
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Ms. FOXX. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, over the last five decades, the Federal Government's role in elementary and secondary education has increased dramatically. The Department of Education currently runs more than 80--more than 80--K-12 education programs, many of which are duplicative or ineffective.
As a school board member, I saw that the vast reporting requirements for these Federal programs tie the hands of State and local school leaders to make the best education available to their students. Since 1965, Federal education funding has tripled, yet student achievement remains flat. More money clearly is not going to solve the challenges we face in education.
Unfortunately, the Obama administration has refused to work with Congress to address these challenges and has, instead, taken unprecedented action to further expand its authority over America's schools.
Through the President's waivers scheme and pet programs, such as Race to the Top, the Secretary of Education has granted himself complete discretion to use taxpayer dollars to coerce States into enacting the President's preferred education reforms. Adding insult to injury, President Obama continues to push for more Federal education spending, requesting a staggering $70.7 billion in discretionary funding alone for the Department of Education in his fiscal year 2016 budget.
Our children deserve better. It is time to acknowledge more taxpayer dollars and more Federal intrusion cannot address the challenges facing schools.
H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, will streamline the Nation's education system by eliminating more than 65 duplicative and ineffective Federal education programs, cutting through the bureaucratic red tape that is stifling education in the classroom, and granting States and school districts the authority to use Federal education funds to meet the unique needs of their students.
The bill also requires the Secretary of Education to identify the bureaucrats in Washington who run the programs which will be eliminated in H.R. 5 and to eliminate their positions, ensuring that the bureaucracy shrinks with the programs.
Additionally, this legislation will take definitive steps to limit the Secretary's authority by prohibiting him or her from coercing States into adopting academic standards like the Common Core. It also halts the executive overreach in the waiver process by prohibiting the Secretary from imposing extraneous conditions on States and local districts in exchange for a waiver.
The Student Success Act protects State and local autonomy over decisions in the classroom by removing the Secretary's authority to add new requirements to Federal programs. H.R. 5 recognizes that local communities know their needs better than any bureaucrat in Washington and empowers States and districts to develop accountability and school improvement systems that align with their local priorities. It also repeals Federal funding requirements that arbitrarily restrict State and local policymakers' ability to set their own budget priorities.
Mr. Speaker, Federal policies should not tie the hands of local educators to make the best decisions for their students and communities. H.R. 5 is a step in that direction, and I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. FOXX. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, while current Federal policy started with good intentions, burdensome and prescriptive regulations have created confusion for school districts and limited school participation and tutoring services and public school choice. Parents know their children best, and any efforts to provide a high-quality education must include engaged parents. Parental involvement can help drive innovation, competition, and school improvement.
The Student Success Act builds on the importance of parental involvement by ensuring that parents have access to meaningful information about local school quality, and it empowers local communities to hold students accountable.
It also maintains longstanding parental notification and consent provisions in current law.
H.R. 5 continues the charter school, magnet school, and tutoring programs to provide parents with more choices in educating their children. Along with parental involvement, encouraging and supporting effective teachers in the classroom is critical to student success and high quality education. Mr. Speaker, many Americans can regale you with stories of their favorite teachers who made a lasting impact on their lives.
Federal policies should not hinder innovation in the classroom. That is why the underlying bill repeals Federal ``highly qualified teachers'' requirements which restrict State and local school districts' ability to reward and maintain good teachers by rewarding education level over effective teaching.
H.R. 5 also supports the development and implementation of teacher evaluation systems that are designed by States and school districts with input from parents, teachers, school leaders, and other stakeholders. In addition to evaluation systems, the Student Success Act reduces confusion and duplication by consolidating teacher quality programs into a single flexible grant program to be used by States and school districts to support creative approaches to recruit and retain effective educators.
The recurring theme throughout this legislation is empowering the people closest to students to make decisions for their communities and ensuring that the law is flexible to meet the needs of diverse States, regions, and student populations.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
My colleague has raised the provision in the manager's amendment related to school-based health centers referring children in schools for abortions. Regardless of their position on abortion, most Americans agree that the issue should not be raised at school. The language now in the bill reflects that consensus and would have no impact on adoptions.
Mr. Speaker, my background as an educator, school board member, mother, and grandmother reinforces my belief that students are best served when people at the local level are in control of education decisions. I also believe that education is the most important tool Americans at any age can have.
I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school and went to college where I worked full time and attended school part time. It took me 7 years to earn my bachelor's degree, and I continued to work my way through my master's and doctoral degrees.
From my own experience, I am convinced this is the greatest country in the world for many reasons, not the least of which is that a person like me, who grew up extremely poor in a house with no electricity and no running water, with parents with very little formal education and no prestige at all, could work hard and be elected to the United States House of Representatives.
No legislation is perfect, and that is why I look forward to working with my colleagues to address their concerns and improve the Student Success Act throughout the amendment process.
We have a significant number of amendments to consider. Forty-four amendments are made in order by this rule, including over 20 Democrat amendments. Among those is Ranking Member Scott's substitute amendment for this legislation and nine bipartisan amendments.
I have never been one to let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and H.R. 5 is a step in the right direction of reducing the Federal role in education; empowering parents, teachers, and local school districts; and increasing local control.
That is why I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation, and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this rule and the underlying bill.
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