As a member of the Senate Education Committee, one of my top priorities is to make sure that our country’s education policies work for all students. This month, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to overhaul No Child Left Behind and reform the law that governs K-12 education. We have been living under No Child Left Behind for 13 years now, and during that time, we’ve learned a lot about what works for education—but even more about what doesn’t work.
I’ve been to schools all over Minnesota, and I’ve talked to students, teachers, principals, superintendents, and parents. After those conversations, I developed some bipartisan priorities that I got into the Every Child Achieves Act, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate. You can read more about the provisions I wrote in the bill http:// www.franken.senate.gov.
Although it’s good that we got this reform finished in the Senate, I’m greatly disappointed that my measure to protect LGBT students from bullying, known as the Student Non-Discrimination Act, or SNDA, was not included in the final bill. The inability to put in place meaningful protections for some of our most vulnerable children is an enormous disservice to LGBT students all across the country who face bullying and discrimination every day. I’m going to keep fighting to get SNDA passed into law.
Senator Al Franken
Washington, D.C.
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