Bonamici Amendment Adopted in House’s ESEA Reauthorization Bill

Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici highlighted the bipartisan support for her amendment, which was cosponsored by Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA) and included in the House’s bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The amendment, a version of Congresswoman Bonamici’s SMART Act, was adopted in H.R. 5, the Student Success Act. It allows states and school districts to use federal resources to eliminate low-quality and redundant tests.

The inclusion of this amendment in H.R. 5 illustrates the reasonable approach the amendment takes to improve assessments and reduce unnecessary testing, which takes valuable instruction time from students and teachers,” Congresswoman Bonamici said. “Although I am pleased to have the amendment included, H.R. 5 still has serious flaws. It includes several troubling provisions, including one that would divert money from our neediest schools by making Title I funds “portable.” It also removes the “maintenance of effort” provision that currently requires states to maintain levels of school funding. The Senate is working on its own bill, and I am optimistic they can take a more bipartisan approach and produce an improved bill. I will continue to advocate for including the full SMART Act in legislation that ultimately replaces No Child Left Behind.