K-12 EDUCATION: Sen. Murray Visits Seattle’s Madrona K-8 to Kick Off the First Phase of the Every Student Succeeds Act

Sen. Murray’s landmark education law, signed into law in December, begins to take effect in the 2016-2017 school year 

Sen. Murray first visited Madrona K-8 in January 2015 as she began work on the legislation

Senator Murray reads to first graders at Madrona K-8 today. 

(Seattle, WA) – Today, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, visited teachers and students at Madrona K-8 in the Seattle Public School District to mark the start of the school year and the first days of her landmark K-12 education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This follows recent visits to schools in Walla Walla and Bellevue. Over the past two years, Sen. Murray heard from teachers, parents, and administrators around Washington state about the badly-broken No Child Left Behind law, which helped her break through the gridlock to write a bipartisan bill to replace it. The new law will help stop unnecessary testing while expanding access to a quality education for all students. President Obama signed ESSA into law last December.

“Last year, I was proud to break through the partisanship and gridlock and work with both Republicans and Democrats to fix the badly broken No Child Left Behind law,” said Senator Murray. “Now, our work continues by making sure this law is implemented effectively here in Washington state. It’s great to meet with students and teachers here at Madrona today, and I hope to see parents, teachers, civil rights groups, and community leaders get involved to make sure our new law works for all students, regardless of where they live, how they learn, or how much money their parents make.”

What the new law will mean for Washington schools when fully implemented:

·         No more letters home to parents telling them their child’s school is failing

·         Greater flexibility for states to design and implement accountability systems that rely on more than just test scores

·         For the first time ever, dedicated funding to support early learning

More on the Every Student Succeeds Act here.

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