Congress Must Reauthorize Elementary And Secondary Education Act, Says Schools Chief

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 2:30PM
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By Justine Rellosa
Talk Radio News Service

Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan stressed the importance of reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) during a hearing Wednesday before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee.

"We want to create a fair system of accountability that instead of stigmatizing schools and educators, rewards them for [their] excellence. We want to focus on growth and gain rather than absolute test scores," said Duncan. "Rather than dictating one size fits all solutions, we want to give states and districts more flexibility to improve in the vast majority of schools."

According to a statement released by the Department of Education, the Act "would ask states to adopt college-and career-ready standards and reward schools for producing dramatic gains in student achievement."

During his appearance on Capitol Hill, Duncan also touted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's (ARRA) impact on aiding his department.

"The Recovery Act dollars given to the Department of Education helped save an estimated 400,000 jobs at the state and local levels," he said.

Article originally appeared on Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media (http://www.talkradionews.com/).