Alexander: New Education Secretary Now Confirmed by and Accountable to Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 14 – Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement after the Senate voted to approve the nomination of Dr. John King Jr. to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education:

“We need an education secretary confirmed by and accountable to the United States Senate so that the law fixing No Child Left Behind will be implemented the way Congress wrote it.

“This is such an important year for our nation’s 100,000 public schools. We are working to implement a new law that reverses the trend toward a national school board and restores to those closest to children the responsibility for their well-being and academic success. That’s why, in December, I urged the president to send to the Senate a nominee for education secretary—and I’m glad there’s now someone confirmed and accountable to Congress as we implement this new bipartisan law that represents such a dramatic and important change in direction for federal education policy for 50 million children and 3.4 million teachers in 100,000 public schools.”

Chairman Alexander has said that the Senate’s education committee will hold at least six oversight hearings on implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act this year, saying, “A law is not worth the paper it is printed on unless it is implemented the way Congress wrote it.” Click here for the chairman’s remarks at the first of these hearings on Feb. 23.

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For access to this release and Chairman Alexander’s other statements, click here.