Senate to vote on ESSA Wed.

A final vote on a bipartisan legislative to replace No Child Left Behind is expected to go to a final vote on the Senate floor Wednesday.

The Every Student Succeeds Act? (“ESSA”) maintains a key feature of the Bush-era law, according to ABC News. That includes annual reading and math testing of children in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. The act would also require schools to make those test scores public, noting students’ races and whether they are disabled to help identify achievements gaps and struggling schools.

If passed, ESSA would replace the “No Child Left Behind” law which passed in 2002. From the landmark act, Washington was able to play a significant role in what kinds of sanctions were prescribed to students who under performed along with how schools and teachers were judged.

According to ABC News, the Education Department would have a smaller role under ESSA and no longer be able to sanction schools that fail to improve. Instead, responsibility and accountability would fall heavier on the states.

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday in support of the bill. Sarah Peck, a press secretary from the office of Senator Kaine, says the bill is expected to pass.

The bill is expected to go to a final vote on the Senate floor Wednesday at 10:45 a.m.