Washington, DC – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today was named a member of the conference committee charged with reconciling the differences between the House- and Senate-passed bills to fix No Child Left Behind. Once passed by both the House and Senate, the final bill will reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the chief federal law addressing K-12 education.
Bennet, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, was instrumental in writing and passing the bill in the Senate. He will work to preserve the provisions in the bill that are priorities for Colorado kids, schools districts, and educators.
“We are on the precipice of finally fixing the problems with No Child Left Behind. We must maintain the strengths from that law which allow us to monitor our kids’ progress and ensure we are preparing them for future success while re-empowering those closest to our kids to make decisions about their education,” Bennet said. “Our chief priority on this conference committee will be to produce a final bill that promotes equity and helps provide great educational opportunities for our kids in poverty. It must create and support new opportunities for teachers and schools to expand upon the innovative strategies that are helping kids learn and grow in the classroom. While this bill is just one step to addressing the challenges facing kids living in poverty, we will work to ensure it includes important tools to help our states, school districts, principals, and teachers prepare our kids for the 21st century.”
The Senate bill, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in July, includes dozens of provisions authored by Bennet that were inspired by his time as superintendent of Denver Public Schools and from a number of conversations with parents, students, teachers, and administrators from around Colorado.
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