A key element in making our schools better is enhancing accountability . All 50 States have tests for measuring student achievement. Thirty-six States issue a report card for each of their schools.
Sixteen States can close, take over, or reconstitute failing schools.
These efforts will be among the topics of a House Budget Committee hearing Thursday, looking at ways that States, localities, and private citizens are working to fix our schools from the bottom up. This document was prepared by the majority staff of the House Committee on the Budget. It has not been approved by the full committee and therefore may not represent the views of all the committee's members.