"No Child Left Behind" Act / ESEA
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), renamed the "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act of 2001, established laudable goals -- high standards and accountability for the learning of all children, regardless of their background or ability.
However, the law must be fundamentally improved and federal lawmakers need to provide adequate funding if NCLB is to achieve it’s goal. Congress has to reauthorize the legislation in 2007, offering an opportunity to make it more workable and more responsive to the real needs of children.
NEA is in the forefront of the effort to improve the federal education law. NEA has developed a comprehensive “Positive Agenda for the ESEA Reauthorization” that spells out detailed recommendations to make the law better.
Read more at NEA's NCLB home page.
Student learning more important than single NCLB test, Almont teacher tells U.S. senators
For Almont EA member Sigrid Grace, good teaching encompasses much more than preparing students for a single high-stakes standardized test required by the No Child Left Behind Act.
"I have a higher goal than testing—it's student learning," Grace told U.S. Senate members on the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, chaired by Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, in Washington, D.C., on May 23.
"We want our students to become life-long learners, not life-long test takers. Learning is more important than taking a test."
Flint EA president testifies on No Child reauthorization
Steve Burroughs, president of United Teachers of Flint, testified April 12 before the House Education and Labor Committee's Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. At a field hearing held in Flint, MI, Burroughs discussed the impact of No Child Left Behind on schools, students, and educators, and urged the committee to make changes to the statute in accordance with NEA’s Positive Agenda for the ESEA Reauthorization. Read Burroughs's statement here.
NEA finalizes priorities for ESEA reauthorization
Last week NEA finalized its legislative priorities for ESEA reauthorization. "NEA's Top Legislative Priorities for ESEA" sets out the Association's seven priority issues as well as the five that would cause NEA to oppose any bill. These legislative priorities are based on NEA's Positive Agenda for the ESEA Reauthorization.
NEA has also created a shorthand version of our legislative priorities, our "Message to Members of Congress," which groups these legislative priorities into three broad categories:
- Use more than test scores to measure student learning and school performance. Include multiple measures of student learning and school effectiveness instead of the current one-day snapshot based solely on standardized tests. Reward progress over time to improve student achievement at all levels. Recognize individual needs of students (special education, ELL).
- Reduce class size to help students learn. Restore the class size reduction program.
- Increase the number of highly qualified teachers in our schools. Provide financial incentives to teachers who teach in hard-to-staff schools. Allow teachers who have achieved certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to be deemed "highly qualified." Provide flexibility for teachers of multiple subjects, including special education and rural educators.
For more information go to www.nea.org/esea. You can use these guidelines in communications and back-home visits with your members of Congress.