Washington, DC – In the wake of the Senate’s vote today to gut critical accountability provisions within the Every Student Succeeds Act, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement:
“Almost two years ago, Congress passed the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, which turned the page from the damaging No Child Left Behind Era. This bipartisan agreement struck the appropriate balance between ensuring all schools and states are held to high standards of success and providing the support that schools need to thrive.
“But today, Republicans voted to derail the progress being made to strengthen critical civil rights protections for students and to roll back important measures to improve school performance.
“When it comes to preparing our kids for success, the path of least resistance cannot be an option, and that is why I voted against this resolution. By choosing to throw ESSA’s implementation into chaos and gut its important goals, Senate Republicans turned their backs on our nation’s most vulnerable students, most struggling schools, and most dedicated teachers who would benefit from the law’s full implementation.
“Our students, their families and teachers deserve better than this, and I will not stop fighting for them.”