Congressman Patrick McHenry today announced he is cosponsoring the A-PLUS Act, a piece of legislation that repeals No Child Left Behind’s (NCLB) one-size-fits-all approach to education by allowing states to opt-out of its federally prescribed mandates. The bill frees states from the federal requirements often tied to federal education funding and allows the implementation of initiatives developed to meet the unique needs of local students.

“No Child Left Behind began as a noble idea to improve our nation’s educational system but ended up as a poorly implemented government program that hamstrings our local schools, teachers, and students,” said Congressman McHenry. “Teachers and parents, not bureaucrats in Washington, should be empowered with educating our students, offering them preparation and guidance initiated from Western North Carolina.”

McHenry went on to say, “North Carolina’s educational standards are among the best in the nation. Our teachers are more than capable of doing their jobs without having the federal government micromanage their classrooms.”

According to a study conducted by the National Association of Educational Progress, NCLB did not have a significant impact on improving reading and math achievement across the nation and the national average of achievement remains flat in reading and grows at the same pace in math as before NCLB.

A-PLUS allows each state the option to submit to the Secretary of Education a declaration of intent, which gives that state full responsibility for the educational needs of its students.

A-PLUS ensures that states are accountable to parents, schools, and the public for advancing the academic achievement of all students, especially disadvantaged children, but does so through local accountability plans rather than uniform federal mandates.