NTU urges all Representatives to vote “YES” on the “Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success,” or A-PLUS, amendment to H.R. 5, the “Student Success Act.” This amendment would substantially increase the flexibility of states and local communities to meet the unique educational goals and challenges of their constituents by allowing states to opt-out of “No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Decades of “one-size-fits-all” top-down federal control have proven unworkable and disadvantaged U.S. students relative to their global peers. What began under President Johnson in the “Elementary and Secondary Education Act” as an effort to help mitigate disparities between school districts and states has ballooned into a bureaucratic morass of overlapping programs and burdensome mandates under the current NCLB regime.
A-PLUS would restore state and local control of education, as intended by the Tenth Amendment, giving states and communities the opportunity to innovate. A-PLUS would implement a commonsense framework for doing so while maintaining a high degree of accountability and transparency. Federal funds would be block-granted to states to disperse as they see fit, empowering local jurisdictions to undertake their own educational priorities. The legislation would save funds at both the federal and local levels by eliminating wasteful and ineffective programs and reducing the administrative burden of NCLB.
Roll call votes on the A-PLUS Amendment to H.R. 5 will be significantly weighted in our annual Rating of Congress and a “Yes” vote will be considered the pro-taxpayer position.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Federal Affairs Manager Nan Swift at (703) 683-5700