The U.S. Senate approved the conference report for S. 1177 – Student Success Act on December 9, 2015. Ted Cruz missed the voted on the bill, which overhauled the No Child Left Behind Act . Cruz released the following statement: “In many ways, the conference report was worse than the original Senate bill — removing the few good provisions from the House bill that would have allowed some Title I portability for low-income students as well as a parental opt-out from onerous federal accountability standards. The American people expect the Republican majority to do better.
In January 2014 at a rally in Houston, Texas, Cruz and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee discussed the importance of school choice. Cruz said, “School choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century. Every child in America deserves a fair chance at a quality education. Additionally, according to The Hill, , Cruz voiced his desire to expand charter schools and voucher programs. In 2014, Cruz co-sponsored S.1909 – the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Individuals and Communities through Education Act, which proposed expanding school choice.
In 2014, Cruz co-sponsored S.2304 – the Expanding Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act. In 2014, Cruz co-sponsored S.Res.345 – “A resolution strongly supporting the restoration and protection of State authority and flexibility in establishing and defining challenging student academic standards and assessments, and strongly denouncing the President’s coercion of States into adopting the Common Core State Standards by conferring preferences in Federal grants and flexibility waivers.”