The Backdoor Attempt to Rewrite No Child Left Behind

Remember when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said of Obamacare that Congress will “have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it”? Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is now taking that approach with his attempt to revamp education in America. And just as that strategy was a terrible idea for health care, it’s the wrong move for education, as well.

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The Senate today will begin the markup of Harkin’s 860-page proposal to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), now known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The proposal amounts to more new regulations and red tape that would be layered on to local school districts, maintaining the status quo of Washington-centric education reform. And the trouble is that the Senate hasn’t even had time to parse through the proposed legislation, let alone hear from those whom it seeks to control. In an exclusive interview yesterday with The Heritage Foundation, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) explained his frustrations with the process:

The bill is 868 pages and we got it yesterday, and I talked to committee members today and said this isn’t the way government should work. I thought we’d have hearings. We’ve had zero hearings on No Child Left Behind. I would think we’d have several significant hearings…Bring in the teachers, bring in the superintendents, bring in the principals and find out more about it. We’ve had none of that, and I think it’s rotten.

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