Tackling questions about who should decide what works best in the classroom, both chambers this week will debate legislation that would ease the law’s emphasis on testing and give state and local authorities more control over how to deal with failing schools.
But the House and Senate measures have notable differences, suggesting the fight over education policy could take weeks or months to play out. A major flash point is how federal education funding is apportioned: The Senate bill maintains a formula that awards additional money to needier districts, while the House version gives states power to tether funding to individual students rather than districts.
The Senate measure evolved from negotiations between Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), who heads the education committee, and the panel’s top Democrat, Patty Murray of Washington. When Mr. Alexander, a former secretary of education, put forward a GOP draft early in the year, Ms. Murray, a former preschool teacher, offered to work with him on a bill that would bring Democrats on board.
