Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives' respective education committees met Wednesday to begin working toward a compromise on their respective draft versions of an Elementary and Secondary Education Act rewrite.
• To expedite the process, lead negotiators Rep. John Kline (R-MN), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Patty Murray (D-WA) hammered out a “framework,” or blueprint, in advance of the session.
• Almost everyone agrees that No Child Left Behind needs to be left behind, and the new law is expected to transfer most power to states, leaving the federal government to act as “guardrails.” 

Dive Insight:

“For now, at least, it looks like legislation based on the framework will sail through the conference committee,” Education Week reported. “The committee's first meeting was basically a love-fest, with lawmaker after lawmaker praising the bill and thanking the negotiators.”

Yet getting the bill passed is another story. It’s not clear what the larger group of both Republican and Democratic leaders outside the committee will think about the draft bill, and the Heritage Foundation is already reportedly against it.

Key elements of the framework include various new possibilities regarding school choice and much greater flexibility for states while maintaining some accountability mandates regarding student performance. The ESEA rewrite has, however, left out a controversial portability clause. A primer on the law and its reauthorization can be found here.