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Republicans in Congress began the process Thursday to block the implementation of teacher-prep rules that would impose new accountability on education colleges.
The Obama administration finalized those rules in October after a years-long process that included negotiated rule making and input from teachers' unions, college deans and other education groups.
But Representative Brett Guthrie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to stop the new rules from going into effect. The Congressional Review Act is a little-used legislative tool that allows lawmakers to eliminate a number of so-called midnight regulations issued in the final months of a presidency.
“Unfortunately, as it did so often, the Obama administration acted unilaterally, overreached and took a one-size-fits-all approach to how teachers are prepared for the classroom,” said Guthrie, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, in a statement. “As a result, the rules finalized by the Department of Education ignore the principles guiding recent bipartisan education reforms and would actually make it more difficult for state and local leaders to help ensure teachers are ready to succeed.”
Education groups who have backed more accountability and transparency for the programs that train public-school teachers have welcomed the efforts by the Obama administration to craft the rules. Benjamin Riley, executive director of Deans for Impact, said states across the country are already taking steps to ensure colleges are no longer sending unprepared teachers into classrooms.
"Apparently some elected officials, in their zeal for deregulation, are willing to join hands with those in higher education who will resist any and all attempts to use policy to improve outcomes," he said.
