Senate

No Child Left Behind rewrite overcomes hurdle

by Jordain Carney - 12/08/15 12:20 PM ET

An overhaul of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law overcame a procedural hurdle in the Senate Tuesday, clearing the path for final passage of the legislation.

Senators voted 84-12 during a procedural vote on the legislation, with 60 votes needed to move forward.

{mosads}Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) urged each of his colleagues to back ending debate on the legislation, suggesting that lawmakers have spent enough time talking about how to rewrite the law.

“We’ve been at this for seven years, failed in the last two Congresses, been working in our committee since January,” he said.

But Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Ky.), who are running for president, bucked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and voted against ending debate.

The legislation, which comes eight years after the original law expired, reduces the federal government’s role in the public education system by transferring more decision-making authority back to state and local governments.

While McConnell suggested earlier Tuesday that they could vote on final passage as soon as Tuesday afternoon with cooperation from every lawmaker, senators are expected to take a vote on final passage on Wednesday.

“Just days after the president signed an important bipartisan highway bill we passed, we soon expect to send him an important bipartisan education bill to sign as well,” he said.

The House passed the legislation last week and President Obama is expected to sign the measure if it reaches his desk.

Tags Lamar Alexander Mitch McConnell Rand Paul Ted Cruz