Lexus or Yugo? Debating NCLB Reauthorization
Is the federal “No Child Left Behind” law
a Lexus, as members of Congress think, or is it a broken
down old Yugo, as the National Conference of State Legislatures
(NCSL) thinks? By framing NCSL’s view of the statute
in this way David Shreve set up a lively discussion
at the Quality Education Conference in Washington, D.C.,
held on June 5 and 6, 2006. After hearing from representatives
of three national organizations, Sarah Rittling, Education/Labor
Counsel to Congressman Castle, Chair of the House Subcommittee
on Education Reform, addressed the audience of advocates
from 38 states. She indicated that Congress will amend
NCLB in ways yet to be determined, and she explained
the process for reauthorization, which has begun recently
with hearings before the full House Committee on Education
and the Workforce.
Presenting their organization’s perspective in
the Looking Ahead to NCLB Reauthorization plenary were:
Amanda Broun, Senior Vice President of the Public Education
Network (PEN); David Shreve, Senior Committee Director
for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL);
Reginald Felton, Director for Federal Relations at the
National School Boards Association (NSBA); and Sarah
Rittling. Jan Resseger, Minister for Public Education
at the United Church of Christ (“UCC”),
moderated.
Ms. Resseger framed the discussion in terms of whether
NCLB, whose stated goal is educational equity, advances
a vision of justice that guarantees a full opportunity
for all to participate in civic life. Citing both the
UCC’s Ten
Moral Concerns in the Implementation of No Child Left
Behind and the Campaign for Educational Equity’s
paper, Opportunity
Knocks, she questioned whether NCLB, in failing
to address the inequities lying at the root of failure
of most of these schools, can truly aid in reducing
inequality of achievement.
All the panelists agreed that NCLB is an important
public statement that all children can learn at high
levels and should receive the “equal opportunity
for a high quality education.” However, panelists
expressed concern that the challenges in implementing
of the law may undermine its goals.
Public
Education Network
PEN is a network of local education funds, primarily
in high poverty areas, working on behalf of 11 million
children in 1,600 school districts. For the past two
years, PEN has held public hearings on NCLB in nine
locations across the nation. The results of the hearings
and recommendations are published in reports entitled
“Open
to the Public: The Public Speaks Out on No Child Left
Behind.” PEN sought the opinions and experiences
of parents, students and community members in order
to give voice to those directly affected by the law
but who often have little opportunity to be heard. PEN
believes that Congress and state officials need to heed
the public’s perspectives in the NCLB reauthorization
process. The hearings revealed that while the public
supports accountability, they feel that NCLB’s
accountability is too narrowly focused on public schools
alone. In addition, members of the public testified
that NCLB’s basis for measuring school quality,
one yearly test per grade, was too thin. Similar concerns
were voiced by students over NCLB’s requirements
for highly qualified teachers, which often did not match
their perceptions of teacher quality. Community members
also lamented the lack of capacity for districts to
implement NCLB. Students, parents, and communities made
it clear during PEN’s hearings that NCLB ignores
many of the real challenges they face, and its accountability
provisions fail to accurately distinguish between a
school’s successes and failures. Only by opening
its eyes to the true needs of struggling students, schools,
and communities will NCLB ever succeed in its goal of
raising the achievement levels of all children
NCSL
The National Council of State Legislatures is a bipartisan
organization that serves the legislatures of all 50
states. David Shreve presented some of the major findings
of the organization’s report
on NCLB, released in February 2005. NCSL concluded
that the NCLB measure of student performance and school
quality, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), is flawed and
does not give an accurate picture of either. Mr. Shreve
cited several studies across the country that predicted
that eventually most schools will fail to make AYP and
be subject to NCLB sanctions. Questioning the efficacy
of NCLB sanctions in improving schools, Mr. Shreve contrasted
state accountability programs, which are designed to
diagnose and correct a problem with the NCLB approach,
which identifies a school as failing, then punishes
that school. The NCSL report also concluded
that NCLB was underfunded, in that the 2% increase
in federal funds to states under NCLB just covers the
administrative costs of NCLB, as opposed to the much
larger cost of teaching children so that they can meet
state academic standards.
NSBA
NSBA is a federation of state school boards associations.
NSBA’s Reginald Felton contended that, like the
movie of the same name, “NCLB has some good, some
bad, and some ugly” in it. While NSBA welcomes
accountability, he said, Mr. Felton questioned whether
NCLB can help students achieve. He echoed the comments
of the earlier panelists regarding AYP, pointing out
that it results in unnecessary blame being targeted
at specific groups. NSBA joined over 80 other organizations
in signing the Joint
Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Act, which sets forth recommendations in the areas
of AYP, assessments, capacity, sanctions and funding.
Mr. Felton warned that if Congress does not address
needed changes in the law, the credibility of NCLB will
erode, as will confidence in public schools.
Representative Michael Castle’s (R-DE) Senior
Staffer Joined the Discussion
Sarah Rittling reported that the House is holding hearings
on the following topics: integration, innovative teaching
methods, AYP, subgroup size, growth models for measuring
school quality, assessments, Limited English Proficiency
and Students with Disabilities, parental involvement,
and the NCLB provisions dealing with Supplemental Educational
Services and school transfers. She asserted that, from
the point of view of Representative Castle, NCLB is
not going anywhere. Despite the growing criticism of
the law, Representative Castle draws motivation for
continuing his support from stories he reads about individual
teachers and school officials who are trying to make
the law work. Ms. Rittling shared that the primary thing
Representative Castle would like to change about the
law is the labeling by the press and others of schools
which have not made AYP as “failing” schools.
In his belief, these schools are not failing; rather
they just need a little help.
Predictions About the Future of NCLB
The speakers seemed to agree that NCLB is here to stay.
Amanda Broun pointed out that Congress should not retreat
from the position that all children can and should achieve
proficiency. David Shreve and Reggie Felton agreed with
that goal. However, Mr. Shreve and Mr. Felton were not
optimistic that any major changes, of the type that
are called for by their organizations, will occur during
NCLB reauthorization. Mr. Shreve closed by reiterating
that Congress believes that NCLB is a great vehicle
for reform, like a Lexus which requires only a wash
and wax, while in the opinion of NCSL, the country has
been handed an ill-equipped Yugo.
Prepared by Wendy Lecker, June 12, 2006
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