H.R. 610 Why You And Your Reps Need To Oppose It
Introduced to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on the 23rd of January 2017 by Republican Representative Steve King (IA), House Bill 610 (H.R. 610) is going to make grave changes for our public schooled children. This bill effectually starts the process of defunding all public schools by distributing Federal funds for elementary and secondary education in the form of vouchers for eligible students and to repeal a certain rule relating to nutrition standards in schools. Several sections clearly state favorably towards private schools.
In a title cited as the “Choices in Education Act of 2017” the bill will eliminate the The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which is the nation's educational law that provides all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, high-quality education and closes educational achievement gaps. This title also puts limitation on Secretarial Authority.
Essentially it would repeal ESSA. The Every Student Succeeds Act was signed by President Obama (who is most arguably one of the BEST presidents in American history) on December 10, 2015 which reauthorized the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The (ESEA) was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who believed that "full educational opportunity" should be "our first national goal." From its inception, ESEA was a civil rights law. ESEA offered new grants to districts serving low-income students, federal grants for textbooks and library books, funding for special education centers, and scholarships for low-income college students. The ESSA sustained and expanded this administration's historic investments in increasing access to high-quality preschool. It advanced equity by upholding critical protections for America's disadvantaged and high-need students. ESSA is a big comprehensive program for struggling learners, AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance and Federal Accountability Programs.
Enacted in 2002, was the previous version of the law, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. In many respects, NCLB represented a significant step forward for America's children, particularly as it shined a light on where students were making progress and where they needed additional support, regardless of race, income, zip code, disability, home language, or background. The law was scheduled for revision in 2007, but NCLB’s requirements became increasingly unfeasible for schools and educators across the nation. Recognizing this fact, in 2010, the Obama administration joined educators and families to create a better law that focused on the clear goal of fully preparing ALL students for future success in college and careers.
H.R. 610 also abolishes what's popularly known as the No Hungry Kids Act which provides crucial nutritional standards in school breakfasts and lunches, which help us raise healthier generations of children. The standards align school meals with the latest nutritional science and real world circumstances of our nation's schools. These sensible reforms do what’s right for children’s health in a way that’s achievable in schools across the United States. The legislation authorizes funding and sets policy for USDA's core child nutrition programs: the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows USDA, for the first time in over 30 years, opportunity to make real reforms to the school meal programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety for millions of school aged children.
SEC. 202. REPEAL OF RULE.
The rule prescribed by the Food and Nutrition Service of the Department of Agriculture
relating to nutrition standards in the national school lunch and school breakfast programs
published on January 26, 2012 (77 Fed. Reg. 4088 et seq.), and revising parts 210 and 220
of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, shall have no force or effect.
SEC. 203. LIMITS ON CERTAIN NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.
Section 9(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(a)(1)(A)(i)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon the following: “, to establish a calorie maximum for individual school lunches, or to prohibit a child from eating a lunch provided by the child’s parent or legal guardian”.
H.R.610 is cosponsored by Republican Representatives: Andy Harris (MD), Trent Franks (AZ) and Pete Olson (TX). We cannot, under good judgment, allow this bill to be passed. I don't see how they can " Make America Great 'Again' " when all that's being done under President Donald Trumps dictatorship is destruction and organizational counterproductivism.