Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced plans to discard the No Child Left Behind law and start from scratch with a new bill focusing on high-quality preschool, increased resources for K-12 schools and a reduction of tests at the state and local level.

Throughout his speech at Seaton Elementary School in Washington D.C., Duncan "emphasized the importance of maintaining a federal mandate for annual testing in third through eighth grade and once in high school," according to an article on USNews.com.

"I believe we can replace it with a law that recognizes that schools need more support – and more money, more resources – than they receive today,” Duncan said. “A law that says that educational opportunity isn’t an option, it’s a civil right, a moral imperative, and the best way we can strengthen our nation and attract and retain great jobs that expand the middle class.”

According to the article, "Duncan said President Barack Obama would make a request in his 2016 budget for funding to improve the quality of annual tests and to help states and districts remove those that are duplicative or unnecessary. Congress, Duncan said, should encourage states to set limits on testing and to notify parents if they exceed those limits."

In his speech, the article said, "Duncan again said in his speech that annual assessments need to stay in place to ensure students’ learning is progressing, and that schools and teachers are held accountable for student performance."

“The number of kids in this country who get to be juniors and seniors in high school and think that they’re on track to be successful in college, and they’re not even close, it’s heartbreaking,” Duncan said.. “It’s absolutely unfair when kids play by all the rules and do all the right things and still find out they’re not anywhere near where they need to be, we as educators have failed them.”

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor