After Six Years of NCLB, Education Needs Change (Rep. Scott Garrett)

January 8th marks the 6-year anniversary of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Since 2002, NCLB has thrust federal bureaucrats into local schools, millions of dollars and millions of teacher work-hours have been wasted to excessive paperwork and regulatory red tape.  And, the results are clear:  Children are not getting better educations and no one is held accountable for it.

I have legislation that works to fix the backward structure of NCLB and restores accountability and authority to local educators. My bill, HR 3177, the Local Education Authority Returns Now (LEARN) Act, enables states to opt out of the costly and burdensome NCLB law. It gives control back to the parents, the teachers, and the local elected officials, allowing them to pursue local and state education initiatives based on what they believe will best help their students.

It’s time we remove Washington bureaucrats from our nation’s public education and return the control and accountability to our local communities who are intimately engaged in the education of our children.