Next week in the House of Representatives, we’ll consider the most significant piece of federal legislation for K-12 schools: the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

In non-Congressional speak, it’s known as No Child Left Behind.

Despite being the largest source of federal spending on K-12 education, No Child Left Behind is a mixed bag. While data indicates that graduation rates have increased and dropout rates have decreased, there have been some unintended consequences. Because of a superficial and simplistic formula called “Adequate Yearly Progress,” or AYP, we’ve created a pervasive culture of over-testing as schools desperately try to meet this burdensome federal

requirement. There’s no question that accountability and transparency are important and necessary, but this culture of over-testing is frustrating to educators and has reduced valuable learning time for students.

Worse, the major tenets of No Child Left Behind haven’t been changed since the turn of the century, a time before Netflix, Facebook and smartphones. We’re using a payphone education policy in an iPhone world.

It’s time we changed that. We need to build on the important data and transparency that emerged over the last decade and do more to scale practices that work so that all students have access to a quality learning experience.

While serving on the Board of Education for the state of Colorado, I saw first-hand what happens when kids don’t have this access. In Colorado specifically, there were countless students, especially immigrants and English-language learners, whose needs were simply not being met by our education system’s rigid parameters.

That’s why I started a charter school, the New America School, to serve these unique student populations that were too often falling through the cracks. Although those charter schools have expanded, and now serve thousands of students in three locations in Colorado and two in New Mexico, I soon realized that one group of charter schools wasn’t enough to meet the needs of the countless students being left behind; instead, we needed real, systemic change at the federal level.

That’s part of the reason why I ran for Congress – to make this change and fix this federal policy that had missed its mark.

We’ve got to get this right. Education is the best ladder of opportunity that we can build for our kids, and it’s the best investment we can make for our country and our future economic prosperity. Well-educated students who can think critically, write clearly and solve problems effectively are the foundation for a strong workforce, globally competitive businesses and sustainable economic growth.

We must build a public education system that recognizes this pressing priority and gives each and every student the tools and skills they need to succeed in the 21st-century global economy, no matter their zip code or the size of their parents’ bank account.

This is going to take work and it won’t happen overnight. Rather than the stale, one-size-fits-all approaches of No Child Left Behind, we need nontraditional, entrepreneurial ideas that more effectively address the dynamic needs of our 21st century students. This means a lot of things from innovative neighborhood, magnet and charter schools that better meet the needs of unique students, to teacher and leader development that is creative and collaborative, not siloed and static. It also means accountability measures that incentivize great teaching and measure our schools in a number of meaningful ways beyond just test scores.

Here in Colorado, we’ve made some great strides. Federal Investing in Innovation in Education matching grants, which we are working to make sustainable in Congress, have helped several school districts in our state, like St. Vrain Valley and Denver Public Schools, cultivate innovative ways of addressing the achievement gap, offering a STEM curriculum, and improving teacher and principal effectiveness. Charter schools like KIPP, STRIVE and the New America School I mentioned earlier, are shattering preconceived notions about education reform and consistently meeting the needs of a unique student body.

It won’t be easy, but after years of false starts and inexcusable inaction, we have an enormous opportunity ahead of us. The reauthorization of No Child Left Behind could signal the beginning of a new era of educational reform and excellence in America, a shining example of the solutions that can emerge when you check politics at the door and work in a bipartisan way to solve one of our country’s most pressing challenges.

We owe it to our kids to give it our best shot. We simply can’t allow any more children to fall behind.

Jared Polis is a U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District.