Education is the best ladder of opportunity we can build for our next generation and the best investment we can make in helping families escape the vicious cycle of poverty.

Unfortunately, for more than a decade, our nation’s education law — No Child Left Behind — hasn’t been meeting this need. While well-intentioned, the law has proven to be onerous and inflexible, subjecting students, teachers and administrators to a one-size-fits-all, flawed accountability model.

As a former chair of the Colorado State Board of Education and founder and former superintendent of a network of charter schools in Colorado and New Mexico, I saw the results of this failed education policy first-hand.

And as I’ve traveled throughout Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District as its representative, I’ve heard the same concerns repeatedly: there’s too much redundant testing, too little respect and support for educators, and too many students falling through the cracks.

All that changed a couple weeks ago. On Dec. 10 we finally moved beyond political differences to make positive change by replacing NCLB with a new education law called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The ESSA we passed in Congress, and that the president signed into law, better supports our students, educators and parents, and fixes the problems of NCLB by giving power back to states and local school districts.

At the core of ESSA is flexibility. We do away with NCLB’s rigid, one-size-fits all parameters and instead lay out a broad framework of accountability and transparency requirements for states to meet, and then give them the power to set up their own systems that work best for their unique needs.

The new law will also enable students to spend less time taking tests and more time learning. For instance, Colorado high schoolers currently take PARCC, the ACT, and district assessments — and many students take AP or IB tests on top of that. Under the new law, states can now allow high-quality, recognized tests that are more meaningful to high school students — like the ACT — to serve in place of the annual state tests.

The new law also supports schools’ efforts to expand creative and effective teaching methods beyond the traditional classroom setting. It grows and improves an existing program that provides resources for innovative solutions to common education challenges that have a proven record of supporting student achievement. These provisions (which are taken from legislation that I introduced in the House in February) will create new opportunities for STEM programs and education technology.

They’re already having an effect in Colorado, where school districts like St. Vrain Valley have used this initiative to support students struggling with math and better engage kids in the sciences. By building on this program, our new education law will help more schools throughout the country take advantage of these opportunities.

The law also includes important updates to the federal Charter School Program, which provides grants to replicate and expand high-quality charter schools. I’ve been a strong supporter of high-performing charters since first coming to Congress based on my experience as a charter school founder.

While by no means perfect, our new education law is an important step in the right direction — it reduces redundant testing, provides greater flexibility to make school accountability work, and maintains the original intent of our nation’s education law — that it’s a civil rights law, first and foremost, ensuring that every student, no matter their race or where they live or how much money their parents have, has access to a world-class education.

Education is the single most powerful tool for creating opportunity, and one of the best investments we can make in our country’s future — we can’t afford to leave any more students behind.

Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder represents Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District.

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.