After the House of Representatives passed the Every Student Succeeds Act to overhaul the long-expired No Child Left Behind Act, politicians and education experts released statements in droves to support various aspects of the new legislation. Read below to find out what’s being said.

Arne Duncan, Soon-to-Be Former Secretary of Education

"Our nation deserves a law that prioritizes both excellence and equity for our students and supports great educators. We are pleased the House has voted in strong bipartisan fashion in favor of a bill that does that, and we look forward to the Senate moving quickly to do the same-“ in a press release from the White House. 

Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress

"The Every Student Succeeds Act closely aligns with a set of principles that the Center for American Progress outlined early in January of this year. The ESSA preserves annual assessments and the use of disaggregated data to ensure that at-risk students are not falling behind, but it also allows states and districts to take a more holistic approach to measuring progress—beyond test scores—by using additional measures of school and student success,” -in a press release from the Center for American Progress.

Office of the Press Secretary, The White House

“[the Every Student Succeeds Act] makes one of the best investments we can make in our children’s future by providing high-quality preschool to more students. This bipartisan compromise is an important step forward, and we look forward to the Senate’s swift passage of this bill-“ in a press release from the Office of the Press Secretary.

Leslie Preddy and Sari Feldman, President of the American Association of School Librarians and President of the American Library Association, respectively

“The AASL and ALA are thrilled that the members of the House and Senate Conference Committee recognized the importance of an effective school library program and understood the invaluable role school library programs play in providing students with the skills they need to analyze, form, and communicate ideas in compelling ways [through recognition in the Every Student Succeeds Act.]”- in statement from AASL and ALA 

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

“We believe the Every Student Succeeds Act is an improvement over the waivers and is a chance to move beyond the No Child Left Behind Act for the millions of students of color, students with disabilities, and English-learner students we represent. However, the compromise that has resulted in the Every Student Succeeds Act is not the bill that we would have written. There are provisions in the proposed legislation that we believe will help remedy deep-seated disparities in our nation’s schools.”- in a statement. 

Brian Lewis, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

"ISTE applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the Every Student Succeeds Act, a bill that will improve this nation's education system by replacing the unworkable provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) with those that support educators, allow for greater state and local flexibility, and foster 21st century learning.” - in a press release from ISTE 

Compiled by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor