The U.S. Senate this week passed an update to the "No Child Left Behind" education law. The "Every Child Achieves Act" is the first education reform measure to clear the Senate in over 13 years.Senator Jon Tester - himself a former teacher and school board member - describes the bill as a great step forward.
"It takes away the high stakes testing. It takes away making every school being judges as if they're the same unit - and they're not. There's a lot of good things in this "Every Child Achieves Act". That's why I voted for it. I think it's why 80 other people also voted for it."
Tester offered an amendment to the measure to reduce the number of federally-mandated student tests, but it gained little traction and failed to make into the final measure.
A more conservative version of the bill passed the U.S. House. Among other differences it would allow federal funds to go with students who transfer from low income schools to schools in less impoverished areas.
The two chambers now must work out the differences between the measures.
