Press Releases

Congressman Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (Ga-01) voted in support of the Every Student Succeeds Act today to reduce the federal role in K-12 education, restore local control, and empower parents.

“Our education system is failing our children and it’s not going to be fixed with the ‘Washington-knows-best mentality,’” Carter said. “As a father and grandfather, I know firsthand this is a gravely flawed mentality. Our children deserve the best education possible and the system can only be fixed by those who know students best – parents, teachers, and communities.”

The Every Student Succeeds Act is a proposal approved by a House and Senate conference committee to replace No Child Left Behind.  The legislation – described by the Wall Street Journal as the “largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter century,” – puts unprecedented restraints on Washington intrusion into classrooms, reins in the Department of Education, and puts the keys to our children's education and future back in local control. It also prevents one-size-fits-all standards like Common Core and puts an end to federally mandated high-stakes testing.

"This guts the federal government’s ability to dictate how children are taught and puts families, teachers and communities in the driver’s seat,” Carter said. “All children learn differently and at their own pace and they should not be punished for this because of one-size-fits-all standards. I am proud to support this agreement today to prohibit the Obama Administration’s federally prescribed education standards and end Washington’s intrusion into our nation’s classrooms.”

The Every Student Succeeds Act would:

Prevent One-Size-Fits-All Standards like Common Core

• Protects state and local autonomy over decisions in the classroom by preventing the Secretary of Education from coercing states into adopting Common Core or any other common standards or assessments, as well as reining in the secretary's regulatory authority.

Reduce the Federal Role in Education

• Repeals out-of-touch teacher qualification programs and allows state and local officials to determine who is qualified to teach their children;
• Ends the era of federally-mandated high-stakes testing;
• Prohibits the Secretary of Education from dictating national education policy;
• Prevents the secretary from legislating through executive fiat and;
• Eliminates 49 ineffective and duplicative programs.

Restores Local Control

• Returns responsibility for accountability and school improvement to state and local leaders;
• Provides school districts more funding flexibility;
• Protects the right of state and local leaders to determine what standards, assessments, and curriculum are best for their students and;
• Preserves the right of states to opt-out of federal education programs.

Empowers Parents

• Ensures parents have the information they need to hold local schools accountable;
• Empowers parents with more school choice options by continuing support for magnet schools and expanding charter school opportunities;
• Prevents any federal interference in private schools and home schools and;
• Establishes a program to provide eligible school districts the ability to allocate federal, state, and local education funds to follow students to the school they attend.

Carter is a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee where he is working to return education to local control. As a member of the Committee, Carter worked to craft and voted in support of the original legislation passed in the House, H.R. 5, the Student Success Act.