WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman John Boehner (R-OH)
voted "yes" Thursday night on innovative education reform legislation
that will begin to give school districts and states greater control over
how federal education dollars are spent.
The Academic Achievement for All Act (H.R. 2300),
popularly known as Straight A's, passed the House with a 213-208
vote. The vote came on the heels of passage of an $11.1 billion
re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA),
which funds the Title I program for disadvantaged schools and other
education programs.
"If you're a parent, this legislation begins to put
you in the driver's seat," Boehner said. "Your child's school can
use this money for any of the things the President talks about, from new
teachers to new facilities to new computers. The difference is
that you and people you know get to decide what your children need most,
instead of having Washington make that decision for you."
Straight A's would establish a pilot program
allowing local school districts in up to 10 states to free themselves of
counterproductive federal education restrictions in exchange for
improved student performance. The measure expands on the
successful bipartisan "Ed-Flex" law passed by the GOP Congress last
spring.
"Straight A's is legislation that breaks the mold of
education reform," said Rep. Bill Goodling (R-PA), chairman of the House
Education and the Workforce Committee. "It is new, and it is
different. Straight A's will help students learn and achieve by
giving states more flexibility. At the same time, states are held
strictly accountable for making real progress in student
achievement."
Straight A's would give states and school districts
the ability to opt out of federal regulations that unnecessarily limit
the ways they can spend money on federal K-12 education
programs. Participating states and schools would have more freedom
to implement measures to improve school discipline, get parents more
involved, and raise student achievement. In return, they would be
required to show improved student performance through measures they
develop.
Federal education spending has increased by 27
percent since Republicans took control of Congress, Boehner noted.
But Washington-based special interests have rallied against GOP efforts
to remove federal restrictions that prevent parents, teachers, and local
school officials from deciding how that money is used.
Boehner also supported an amendment authored by
House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas that would allow the nation's
governors to declare "academic emergencies" in failing or dangerous
schools in their states and create a national school choice pilot
program for students trapped in failing or dangerous schools.
Under the Safe & Sound Schools amendment, governors would be able to
designate chronically-failing schools in their states as academic
emergency zones. Students in those schools would immediately be
eligible to apply for $3,500 school choice scholarships that could be
used for tuition at any public, private, or parochial school in their
area. In addition, K-12 students in Title I schools across the
nation would immediately qualify to apply for the school choice aid if
they were the victim of a violent crime at their school.
"When natural disasters strike American communities,
the federal government allows governors to step in to authorize quick
and compassionate relief. Why should things be any different when
it comes to America's schools?" Boehner asked. "This is the kind
of aggressive strategy needed to challenge the status quo and give
at-risk students a fighting chance for a better future."
A measure authored by Boehner to save taxpayers $20
million per year by eliminating the duplicative Native Hawaiian
Education Programs also passed Thursday as part of the ESEA
re-authorization.
Boehner is a senior member of the House Committee on
Education and the Workforce.
