CAT Tracks for February 9, 2004 HARVARD STUDY ON NCLB

Results of an exhaustive review of NCLB have just been released. Read the findings by the Harvard Civil Rights Project...

On Monday, February 9, the Harvard Civil Rights Project (CRP) will release four reports on ESEA/NCLB that were funded in large part by the NEA. In addition, Gary Orfield, CRP’s founding co-director, will discuss the reports’ findings with the NEA Board of Directors on Friday, February 13.

All the reports, and an executive summary, will be available on 2/9 online at http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/esea/nclb.php

The four reports address:

1. The federal role in the law’s implementation;

2. The law’s negative effects on state reform and poor/minority students in six states (AZ, CA, IL, GA, NY, and VA);

3. The limited school choice opportunities available to students under the law; and

4. The enormous burden its choice and supplemental service requirements place on states and districts.

We urge you to make sure that policymakers in your state know about the reports’ findings.

The findings echo what NEA members have been saying for long time: Despite its lofty aims, the way ESEA/NCLB is constructed disadvantages the very schools and students it was designed to help.

The Harvard studies also make a vital contribution by documenting the law’s impact on poor and minority students. They show that the way the law is structured – and the federal government’s inflexibility concerning implementation – is, in fact, leaving many poor and minority children behind.

Let us know if you need more information.

Reg Weaver & John Wilson