There remains flexibility for schools in the scheduling of content.
The report, described by a panel of commission members, also said that those common national standards, being drawn up by a voluntary coalition of 46 states, must be accompanied by better tests to measure student achievement, improved training for their teachers, and greater flexibility for schools to pursue innovative strategies.
It allows growth for Reading Recovery and flexibility for schools".
"A bipartisan bill will not have everything that everyone wants, but it must build on our common interests: high standards; flexibility for states, school districts and schools; and a more focused federal role that promotes equity, accountability and reform," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement about Harkin's bill Tuesday.
Mr. Christie, a Republican, also proposed changes in the state's charter law that would allow local school boards to authorize charter schools, streamline the application process, allow more flexibility for charter school operations and encourage "new and innovative types of charters".
In a summary of the bill, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said the changes would "prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations and…provide greater flexibility for local school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals".
Hailed by Education Secretary Roderick Paige as offering unprecedented spending flexibility for local school districts, the Act sets up a cost equation for providers that will have more variables than an algebra problem.
There will be more academies, free to do their own thing, and more curriculum flexibility for primary schools so they can offer more arts, sports and cultural activities.
The resolution also calls on the state education commissioner, RICHARD P. MILLS, to offer greater flexibility in testing for school districts that annually exceed the state's standards.
In a statement after the vote, Mr. Bush said, "These historic reforms will improve our public schools by creating an environment where every child can learn through real accountability, unprecedented flexibility for states and school districts, greater local control, more options for parents, and more funding for what works".
He said in a statement, "The conference agreement will ensure that no child in America is left behind through historic education reforms based on real accountability, unprecedented flexibility for states and school districts, greater local control, more options for parents and more funding for what works".
