UPDATE: On July 16, 2015, the U.S. Senate approved the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177) with a vote of 81 to 17. Similar to HR 5 which recently passed in the House, the Senate measure reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act. Both chambers will participate in a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two bills and send the compromise to the president’s desk.
From the USCCB- HR5 is the House of Representatives version of the long overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Since its inception in 1965, ESEA has long upheld the principle that students in need, regardless of whether they attend a public or private school, are entitled to an equitable share of services and benefits. However, following the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2001 (the last ESEA reauthorization), this principle has been continually eroded with private school students and their teachers no longer receiving the equitable share of services and benefits to which they are entitled and that Congress intended.
The Student Success Act (H.R.5) is the first step towards restoring equity and strengthening the historical safeguards designed to insure the fair and equitable treatment of private school students and their teachers. The House plans to vote on The Student Success Act on Wednesday, July 8th.
As the U.S. Bishops reiterated in their 2005 statement Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium, “government at all levels, acting in partnership with parents, has a responsibility to provide adequate professional and material resources to assist all children to attain a quality education.” The Student Success Act’s provisions related to improving access to services to teachers and students in need, regardless of where they attend school, makes a substantial contribution to putting the needs of students and their families first.
For more information, see the letter by Archbishop George Lucas, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Committee on Catholic Education regarding the Student Success Act.
E-mail or Call Your Representative and tell them:
- Please support the re-authorization of ESEA. Passage of The Student Success Act will be the first step towards correcting the inequities of No Child Left Behind including the improvement of the consultation requirements and other conditions connected with providing equitable services for students and teachers in religious, private and independent schools.
- As the U.S. Bishops reiterated in their 2005 statement Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium, “government at all levels, acting in partnership with parents, has a responsibility to provide adequate professional and material resources to assist all children to attain a quality education.”
- The Student Success Act’s provisions related to improving access to services to students in need and their teachers, regardless of where they attend school, makes a substantial contribution to putting the needs of students and their families first.
Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of Catholic Education!
