Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Enzi Echo President Obama’s Call for Education Reform

WASHINGTON – Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), tonight released the following joint statement after President Obama called for education reform in his State of the Union address:

“Tonight President Obama renewed his pledge to improve our education system to help strengthen our nation's competitiveness. We have expressed a commitment to fix the No Child Left Behind Act, and we hope President Obama’s remarks add to the momentum of this bipartisan effort.

“Last year we held ten bipartisan hearings where we heard about many of the problems in the No Child Left Behind Act.  This Congress, we must rewrite this law to create a better and more flexible education system that prepares our nation’s students for success in college, careers and the global economy.  We share the goal of legislation that gives our children and grandchildren the high quality education they deserve, and we look forward to working together toward that goal.”