Key Vote YES on the Cruz Amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act

As one of our over 6.9 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote YES on the Cruz amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act, S. 1177. This amendment would eliminate federal testing requirements for the states.

One of the worst things about the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind is the maintenance of requirements that the states implement uniform testing programs, the results of which are then reported to the Department of Education. The Constitution provides no role for the federal government in education, and each state should be free to design and implement tests without having to seek bureaucratic approval.

This amendment, authored by Senator Ted Cruz, forbids the Secretary of Education from requiring state testing as a condition of funding, and amends other references to testing in the bill to specify that such assessments will be optional on the part of the states.

Severing the link between federal mandates and funding is one of the most important goals of education reform, restoring autonomy to the states, and allowing local school districts to adapt to their unique circumstances. A top down, one-size-fits-all testing program will always be doomed to failure.

Please contact your senators and ask that they vote YES on the Cruz amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act, S. 1177. FreedomWorks will count the vote on this amendment as a Key Vote when calculating our Congressional Scorecard for 2015. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of Congress who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,
Adam Brandon
CEO
FreedomWorks