No Child Left Behind Overhaul -- State Assessments and Accountability Systems

Cruz, R-Texas, amendment no. 2180 to the Alexander, R-Tenn., substitute amendment that would make assessments and accountability systems optional for states. It would prohibit the Education secretary from requiring states, as a condition for approving state plans, to include accountability systems or assessments in state plans, or to use the inclusion of such assessments or systems as a factor in awarding federal funding. The Alexander substitute would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the law that authorizes federal spending on kindergarten through high school. It would let states decide how to judge schools' success and wouldn't require any type of teacher evaluation. It would require states to continue testing students annually, but would leave it up to states to decide what weight those scores have when rating schools.