Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., rose to the Senate floor Wednesday to tell his colleagues that state and local governments know best when it comes to educating students. Alexander was speaking in support of a K-12 education bill that would replace No Child Left Behind.

“We need to show some humility and recognize, as Carol Burris, the principal of the year in New York, said, that moms and pops and school board members cherish the children in their own communities, and that you don’t really get that much wiser and smarter by flying to Washington and passing a law,” Alexander said. “This bill shows that humility, it shows the consensus, it’s a good example of how the Senate can work together on an important issue.”