WASHINGTON -- The House narrowly passed a Republican-led rewrite of the No Child Left Behind education law Wednesday, voting to lessen the federal role in education policy for the nation's public schools.
The bill sponsored by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., gives states and school districts more control over assessing the performance of schools, teachers and students.
It also prohibits the federal government from requiring or encouraging specific sets of academic standards, such as Common Core, and allows federal money to follow children of low-income families to the public schools of their choice, an issue known as portability.
The vote was 218-213, with no Democrats supporting the measure and 27 Republicans voting against it. The four representatives from Arkansas, all Republicans, voted in favor of the bill.
Passage comes five months after conservatives forced GOP leaders to pull a similar bill before a scheduled vote. This time around, conservatives had indicated they would support the legislation if they had the chance to offer amendments.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the bill fails to help struggling schools and the children they teach.
"House Republicans have chosen to take a bad bill and make it even worse," Duncan said in a statement. "Instead of supporting the schools and educators that need it most, this bill shifts resources away from them."
House Speaker John Boehner said the measure delivers much-needed education changes by replacing "top-down mandates with conservative reforms that empower the parents, teachers and administrators at the heart of our education system."
The House passed its legislation as the Senate rejected a proposal to turn federal aid for students from low-income families over to the states, which could then let parents choose to spend the money in the public or private schools they deem best for their children.
Under current law, the money goes to school districts and generally stays in schools in the neighborhoods where the children live.
The Senate measure failed in a 52-45 vote. The 45 votes in support of the measure fell short of a majority and 15 shy of the 60 required. A breakdown of the votes was not immediately available.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said the proposed change would "solve inequality in America by giving children the opportunity to attend a better school."
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., countered that the change would "retreat on our fundamental commitment to make sure that every child has access to a quality education."
Much like the House bill, the Senate measure also would whittle the federal government's involvement in public schools. Both would retain the annual reading and math tests outlined in No Child Left Behind, but instead would let states -- rather than the Department of Education -- decide how to use the required assessments to measure school and teacher performance.
Alexander said Wednesday that the House and Senate bills aren't that different, and the goal is to get legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature.
No Child Left Behind, which expired in 2007, mandated annual testing in reading and math for students in grades three through eight and again in high school. Schools had to show student growth or face consequences.
Critics complained that the law was rigid, overly ambitious and punitive, and that there was too much testing.
In 2012, the Obama administration began granting states waivers from meeting some of the requirements of the law after it became clear they would not be met. Forty-two states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have been granted waivers.
Information for this article was contributed by David Espo and Erica Werner of The Associated Press.
A Section on 07/09/2015