Enzi: ESEA Standards and Assessments Should Follow States’ Lead

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, made the following statement today at the sixth in a series of hearings on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  Today’s hearing focused on standards and assessments.

“The work being done by the states on standards has spearheaded significant discussion about the next generation of state systems of assessment,” said Enzi.  “In my travels across Wyoming, I hear over and over that the static model used by many states under No Child Left Behind needs to be changed to allow for growth models in all the states.  I am particularly pleased that the new assessments proposed for reauthorization will be better aligned to allow for better measurements of student growth from year to year.”

“Elementary and secondary education in this country is undergoing new and exciting changes.  Our work on the reauthorization of ESEA must be done carefully and deliberately to foster and support these changes,” added Enzi.  “We should continue to find ways to assist States, not require or coerce them, with this difficult, but important work.”

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