Conservatives are balking at a GOP measure that would reform the unpopular No Child Left Behind Act, which could threaten passage this week.
The bill would reduce federal input when it comes to deciding where federal dollars are spent on low-income and impoverished students.
The right faction of the House Republican conference wants the bill to go further to unwind federal involvement in education and some say they won’t vote for the measure unless there is an opportunity to change it through the amendment process.
House offices have been flooded with calls from constituents, GOP lawmakers told the Washington Examiner, and conservative groups are lobbying against the measure.
“Right now I’m a no,” Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., who formerly homeschooled his children, said. “I just have a philosophical opposition and a constitutional opposition to No Child Left Behind. Take it all out. Get rid of No Child Left Behind.”
Republican support is critical for the legislation to pass, since Democrats appear wholly opposed to the legislation.
President Obama has threatened to veto the bill, saying it “abdicates the historic federal role in elementary and secondary education of ensuring the educational progress of all of America’s students, including students from low-income families, students with disabilities, English learners and students of color.”
The legislation would allow federal dollars to follow the student, rather than tying the money to a school district, and would give states more flexibility on how they administer some aspects of the No Child program, which was first implemented during the administration of George W. Bush but has been widely criticized.
Conservatives are demanding a range of changes to the GOP re-write, including an opt-out policy for states who do not want to participate in the program.
“We feel all of those tentacles should be taken down,” Rep. John Fleming, R-La., said.”The only role the federal government should have is to ensure that the states have testing and some level of quality attainment but not dictating to the states what programs and curriculum they should have.”
A vote on the Success Act is slated for Friday.
According to a House GOP leadership aide, there are no plans to pull the bill.
Republicans can only afford to lose about 27 Republican votes on the legislation to prevent it from failing.
“We are moving forward as scheduled,” the aide said. “We don’t really feel that it is in jeopardy.”
