Obama Signs New Education Law Granting States Greater Power

President Obama signs the Every Student Succeeds Act on Thursday. Flanking him are Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the committee’s ranking member. (Evan Vucci / AP)

On Thursday, President Obama replaced No Child Left Behind, the despised Bush-era federal education law, with the Every Student Succeeds Act, which gives state governments the power to evaluate schools and determine how to address problems.

The change does not necessarily mean U.S. public schooling will improve, but, as the language in the article below shows, merely that states will now decide whether to continue, halt or revise the kind of educational oppression of students and teachers previously imposed by Washington.

NPR reports:

The new law changes much about the federal government’s role in education, largely by scaling back Washington’s influence. While ESSA keeps in place the basic testing requirements of No Child Left Behind, it strips away many of the high stakes that had been attached to student scores. […]

[…] Gone too is the requirement, added several years ago by the Obama administration, that states use student scores to evaluate teachers.

The new law, which passed the House and Senate with rare, resounding bipartisan support, would also expand access to high-quality preschool.