Testing element remains in replacement bill

The House has voted overwhelmingly to sharply scale back the federal role in American education.  But the legislation would retain the testing requirement in the 2002 No Child Left Behind law that many parents, teachers and school districts abhor.

U.S. News report

The bill, approved 359-64, would return to the states the decision-making power over how to use students' test performance in assessing teachers and schools. The measure also would end federal efforts to encourage academic standards such as Common Core guidelines.

The legislation still would require states to intervene in the nation's lowest-performing 5 percent of schools, in high school "dropout factories" and in schools with persistent achievement gaps.

The Senate is to vote on the measure next week, and President Barack Obama is expected to sign it.