WASHINGTON— Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and a member of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) conference committee, released the following statement after the U.S. Senate passed the ESEA conference report, the Every Student Succeeds Act. The conference agreement, which passed the U.S. House last week and overhauls the broken No Child Left Behind Act, now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

"The repeal and replacement of No Child Left Behind is a big win for Connecticut students and teachers. As a parent, I know that No Child Left Behind was a disaster for students, teachers and parents. It turned education into test preparation and shamed under-performing schools without giving any help or resources for those schools to get better. By repealing the worst of No Child Left Behind, we're putting more control in the hands of local communities and ensuring that schools are helping every student reach their full potential. 

“I was proud to be the voice of the civil rights community in the process of writing this bill. Every child in Connecticut and across the country has the right to a first-rate education, regardless of their race, income, or learning ability. The final bill sets high expectations that low performing schools and vulnerable students will get special attention, while leaving the decisions about how to improve outcomes to states and local districts.

"As a member of the committee that wrote this bill, I was proud to serve under Chairman Alexander and Senator Murray as they brought Republicans and Democrats together – an unfortunate rarity in Washington – to get this bill across the finish line. Millions of students are better off thanks to their efforts." 

Murphy voted to support the conference report today, but he voted against an earlier version of the bill because it lacked civil rights guarantees and requirements that protect the needs of vulnerable and underserved learners. Unlike that version, the final bill passed today includes provisions authored by Murphy that will require states to identify and support underperforming schools. Murphy’s provisions will ensure that the lowest performing schools, those with dramatically underperforming subgroups of students and schools with low graduation rates, are identified and receive additional support through state accountability and improvement systems. The amendment is a significant departure from No Child Left Behind in that it leaves it to the states and local school districts to decide what interventions will improve outcomes and includes no federally-mandated penalty if schools fail to achieve benchmarks. A Murphy-led effort to authorize the Promise Neighborhoods grant program, a comprehensive model of evidence-based interventions that are proven to improve educational achievement among children in distressed neighborhoods, will also be included in the final education bill. To date, more than 60 communities across the country – including Meriden, Connecticut – have used grants provided by this program to systemically challenge the detrimental effects of poverty.

Murphy also successfully led the effort to reform school discipline practices. The Every Student Succeeds Act includes a provision spearheaded by Murphy that will require states to submit report cards on school climate and safety, including rates of suspensions, expulsions, school-related arrests, and referrals to law enforcement. States will also be required to submit plans for how they will reduce the use of discipline practices that threaten student safety, including seclusion and restraint. 

Other key provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act include:

  • Students will still be required to take standardized tests: a reading test and a math test every year in grades 3 through 8, and one during high school; a total of three science tests will also be taken between grades 3 and 12.
  • Unlike No Child Left Behind, the federal government can no longer withhold money based solely on test scores.
  • States will be given flexibility to deviate from “Common Core” standards that many adopted as part of their No Child Left Behind waiver applications.
  • The federal government will maintain its role in ensuring that states identify struggling schools and protect vulnerable students, but states and local districts will decide how to fix the problems.
  • The bill includes increased funding for early and pre-K education.