Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., told educators gathered at Tuesday’s county education summit that Congress needs to reauthorize No Child Left Behind to get the “federal government out of the way.”

“You are weighed down by these mandates,” she said. “Children are getting left behind.”

The bills that were passed out of the Education and Workforce Committee, on which she serves, include setting new priorities in educational spending; empowering parents through charter schools; local and state flexibility funding; student success act, which would eliminate AYP and give back the control to states; and encouraging innovative and effective teaching, which moves away from highly qualified to a state/local model, she said.