Act empowers parents, gives control back to states and communities in making education decisionsWASHINGTON – Today, PublicSchoolOptions.org and parents across the country applauded the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act by the House of Representatives, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The bill, which is a product of a conference between a bipartisan group of leaders on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, is a step forward in empowering parents with more options to determine the schools where their children learn best and gives the power back to states to determine how best to assess and improve its schools.House Education and Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN), and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, Todd Rokita (R-IN), led the effort for education reform in the House this year with their introduction of theStudent Success Act, H.R. 5, which was passed by the House in July.The final piece of legislation will replace the current K-12 education law, No Child Left Behind. The bill now moves to the Senate for a final vote, and upon passage, would move to the president’s desk for his signature.STATEMENT FROM TILLIE ELVRUM, PUBLICSCHOOLOPTIONS.ORG PRESIDENT, SCHOOL CHOICE ADVOCATE AND PARENT LEADER:“As parents and advocates, we are pleased to see this bipartisan legislation pass the House. While there’s more work to be done, this bill is a major step forward in returning education decisions back to parents and states, by allowing for greater flexibility to pursue more student-centered accountability. Shifting more power to the states is a good thing, and we urge states to take their responsibility seriously in designing accountability systems that better serve its students and families.”Every Student Succeeds Act highlights:• Removes the mandated focus on school- or district-wide averages in accountability designs and allows for focus on student-centered accountability.• Allows greater flexibility to states, which will need to follow through, to design testing and accountability systems that empower parents.• Prohibits any federal coercion or mandate on Common Core by allowing states to develop their own standards.• Empowers parents to make informed choices in selecting the school that best serves a student’s learning needs.PublicSchoolOptions.org is a national alliance of over 60,000 parents that supports and defends parents’ rights to access the best public school options for their children. The Coalition supports the creation of public school options, including charter schools, online schools, magnet schools, open enrollment policies and other innovative education programs. Additionally, we advocate for equal access without restrictions to the school that best suits the individual student’s learning needs whether it is public, non-public or home-based.With active parent-led organizations in over thirty states, PublicSchoolOptions.org is an advocacy organization that is unmatched at the grassroots level. Just as parents have fought for years at the state level to support education policies that improve access and provide greater public school options, the parents of PublicSchoolOptions.org stand ready to support policy at the federal level that matches the principles outlined above.###