{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/senate-passes-every-student-succeeds-act-with-key-brown-provisions", "Senate Passes Every Student Succeeds Act with Key Brown Provisions", "2015-12-09", "2015", "2015-12", "Democrat", "House", "OH", "Sherrod Brown", "B000944", "www.brown.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Bill Now Heads to the Presidents Desk\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWednesday, December 9, 2015\n            \n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, D.C.  The U.S. Senate today passed several of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Browns (D-OH) priorities as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)  legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Reauthorization Act. The bill now heads to the Presidents desk.\r\nWe owe it to students in Ohio and across the nation to strengthen our schools, Brown said. Thats why Ive worked to ensure that this bill contains provisions that will protect students from excessive testing, hold charter schools accountable, and ensure that students receive the critical social services they need so they can focus on achieving academic success. I will continue to work to expand school resources so that every student, regardless of zip code, has access to a quality, effective education.\r\nESSA recognizes that student success is more than a test score. By reducing the amount of standardized testing, students will have more time to learn and develop critical thinking, said Ohio Education Association President Becky Higgins, The new law puts educational decision-making back where it belongs  at the local level - and gives educators a greater voice in shaping education policy. We also welcome the provisions that call for stronger charter school accountability and transparency  something that has been lacking in Ohio for too long. We applaud the hard work done by Senator Brown to make sure these provisions were included in ESSA.\r\nREDUCING AND STREAMLINING DUPLICATIVE TESTINGBrownsSupport Making Assessments Reliable and Timely(SMART)Act that would eliminate outdated and duplicative tests  was unanimously adopted by the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee during its consideration of the Every Child Achieves Act, and is included in the final bill. The average student in Ohio spends almost 20 hours taking tests each year and another 15 additional hours practicing for tests each year.\r\nSpecifically, the legislation would update an existing grant formula to assist states and local education agencies in aligning testing materials to college- and career-ready standards. The funding can also be used to speed delivery of test data to educators and parents  providing more time for educators to design instruction based on test results. Additionally, states can undertake audits of existing practices to eliminate unnecessary assessments, design more effective systems, and amplify effectiveness of remaining exams to support educators. A one-pager is available here.\r\nIMPROVING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY AT CHARTER SCHOOLS  Parts of BrownsCharter School Accountability Act were included in the Every Student Succeeds Act through a substitute amendment. These provisions would increase parental and community engagement, require charter schools to report how they are complying with open meetings laws, and require an oversight report from the U.S. Department of Education. Ohio is home to nearly 400 taxpayer-funded charter schools that educate approximately 123,000 students. According to a report from Stanford Universitys Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), students at Ohios charter schools lose 43 days of math instruction and 14 days of reading instruction compared with traditional public schools in the state.\r\nBOLSTERING SOCIAL SERVICES IN COMMUNITY SCHOOLS\r\nThe Every Student Succeeds Act includes a variation of Browns Full-Service Community Schools amendment to expand the community school model to more schools across the country. As a part of this legislation, there will be a set-aside that allows the Secretary of Education to award at least 10 grants per year for full-service community schools. Community schools bring together students, families, service providers, and neighborhoods to provide important services to help students better access the learning opportunities and support services they need to succeed. Open year-round, these schools can help provide physical and mental health services, access to housing services, nutritional assistance, and after-school programming. Ohio has 89 community schools in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, and Toledo. There are also plans to develop community schools in Columbus and Youngstown.\r\nThe Every Student Succeeds Act also includes Browns bipartisan Community Schools Site Resource Coordinator amendment that would ensure that each community school program receiving funds can use these funds to have a site resource coordinator for their school or local education agency. Site resource coordinators would work with the community and non-profits to identify and source additional resources to benefit students. A one-pager on the amendment can be found here.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPress Contact\n\t\t\t\t\tMeghan Dubyak/Tamika Turner(202) 224-3978", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/senate-passes-every-student-succeeds-act-with-key-brown-provisions"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.556640025228262, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}