# Plain Language Summary: Ending Common Core and Expanding School Choice Act

This bill fundamentally changes how federal education funding for low-income students works. Instead of money going directly to school districts based on where they're located, the funding would follow individual low-income children to whatever school their families choose. Here's what that means in practice: if a low-income family wants to send their child to a public school in a different district, a charter school, or a private school, they could take the federal education dollars designated for their child with them. The bill calculates a per-pupil amount by dividing the total federal funding by the number of low-income children in each state, then allows families to direct those funds toward their child's education at their chosen school.

The bill also removes federal involvement in setting educational standards and testing requirements. It explicitly prohibits the federal government from requiring states to adopt Common Core standards or any other standardized academic standards, and it eliminates federal mandates for standardized testing and accountability systems. States would have complete control over what academic standards their schools use and how they measure student progress. Additionally, the bill repeals an existing federal program that provided grants for state assessment systems.

For families, this could mean more flexibility in choosing schools if their state allows it, though the actual impact depends heavily on state laws and how each state decides to implement the program. For schools, this could mean losing predictable funding if students leave for other options, potentially affecting their budgets and operations. The bill essentially shifts power away from the federal government and toward individual states and families, though it leaves many implementation details up to each state to decide.

Ending Common Core and Expanding School Choice Act

Biggs, Andy

Ending Common Core and Expanding School Choice Act This bill&nbsp;revises requirements&nbsp;related to federal&nbsp;education funding for disadvantaged children. Specifically, the bill (1)&nbsp;eliminates the standards, assessments, and academic accountability requirements for state and local educational agencies that receive federal funds for the education of disadvantaged children; (2) requires such funds to be allocated based on the number of children residing in each state who are living in poverty; and (3) allows educational agencies to distribute per-pupil amounts from such funds to parents for qualified elementary and secondary education expenses. The bill prohibits federal officers or employees from mandating academic standards, assessments, curricula, or accountability systems.