Student Success Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to present an amendment to help prepare vulnerable and at-risk students for the future. Too many children suffer because we effectively do not have the coordinated efforts to research and apply data on student achievement in a way that would really benefit them.

This amendment supports the creation of a national strategy for the collection, analysis, and assessment of student achievement data. This data will be used to structure systems that better serve our students. In addition, it will advance teacher professional development, educational administration, and international education comparisons.

Preparing students for college and careers should be a priority of our system of education. But doing this successfully requires evidence-based tools we need to properly assess what is working and what is not working.

My amendment, Mr. Chair, will help ensure that all students leave our elementary and secondary schools prepared to meet the demands of our global society.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for his thoughts and, quite frankly, I appreciate that this is really a part of our ongoing discussion; however, I respectfully disagree.

I understand, Mr. Chairman, that some of my colleagues believe that such a strategy should be left to the States; however, it is critically important that we remember one fact: a child does not learn differently based on what State they live in. A State that fails to hold schools accountable hurts the students, even if their standards were approved by the General Assembly. Parents should not have to worry about their child getting an inferior education just because of the State that they live in, Mr. Chairman.

While States like mine--the great Hoosier State of Indiana--are holding robust debates about assessments, we still do not have a clear strategy to address the needs of our students or our teachers. This amendment, Mr. Chairman, merely sets forth a plan to address the problems we are facing across the country and increase the likelihood that our students will receive a quality education. This is something for us to think about, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, while I believe that this amendment addresses a very important issue, it will not solve the wide array of programs with the underlying bill. This bill ignores the needs of students living in poverty, students with disabilities, and English language learners. It fails to target those schools that are truly in need and allows portability that will hurt these struggling schools even further. It cuts State accountability standards. It block grants critical title I funds, effectively increasing chances that funds will not reach their intended targets, Mr. Chairman.

This bill is nowhere near what our students, parents, and teachers need. I encourage my colleagues, Mr. Chairman, to support my amendment and vote against the underlying bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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