Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for January 5, 2007 NCLB UP FOR RENEWAL

Don't get your hopes up of it going away...even the NEA is not trying to fight that battle. However, maybe the law can be shifted from the "Twilight Zone" to the "Real World".

For example...maybe in measuring "progress", we will begin testing the same group of students from year to year - an "apples to apples" approach - instead of the current "apples to oranges" comparison of different groups of students.

And maybe...just maybe...someone will finally realize the absurdity of mandating that everyone will be average or above by the year 2014!

Here's a couple of related articles:

Bush to seek renewal of education law

NANCY ZUCKERBROD Associated Press

WASHINGTON - President Bush plans to meet with lawmakers next week to boost efforts to renew the No Child Left Behind education law, according to a Democratic congressional aide.

The top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate committees that deal with education issues planned to attend the White House meeting Monday, the aide said on the condition of anonymity because the White House had not announced the session.

Monday is also the day the Bush administration is commemorating the fifth anniversary of what is widely considered the most significant federal education law in decades.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, said she was optimistic the law would be renewed for five more years. She said it is a natural issue on which Bush and Democrats, who won control of Congress in November, can come together.

"It's on everybody's list of things where we might forge agreement as we have done before," she said.

The law seeks to ensure that all children can read and do math at grade level by 2014, which has placed unprecedented demands on schools. They have been required to step up testing, raise teacher quality and place more attention on the achievements of minority children.

Poor schools that get federal aid but do not make enough progress must provide tutoring, offer public school choice to students or initiate other reforms such as overhauling their staffs.

Spellings said there were a few "bright-line principles" that the administration would not agree to alter under a rewrite of the law. Among them is the requirement that all students are proficient in reading and math by 2014 - a goal many observers call unrealistic.

Spellings said the administration was open to debating how student achievement should be measured. Critics, including the teachers' unions, have said the current law does not give enough credit to schools that make significant strides in student achievement but fall short of reaching an annual target.

"There is too much punishing going on," said Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the country. Weaver also called the law "grossly underfunded."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who are to lead the committees overseeing education, say the administration has provided about $50 billion less than originally called for by Congress.

Republicans say it is common practice for legislation to be funded at less than the full level Congress authorizes.

Spellings declined to preview the amount Bush would seek when he releases his annual budget in February. She did indicate an interest in getting more money to teachers who work in schools that have difficulty attracting people.

Bush sought $500 million from Congress for that purpose last year and got about $100 million.

"Our best teachers, or are most experienced teachers, are in places with our least challenged learners," Spellings said.

Spellings also reaffirmed the administration's view that the law, which focuses on early and middle grades, should be expanded in high schools.

ON THE NET

Education Department background on the law:

http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml

From the Washington Post...

'No Child' Law on Track, Spellings Says

By Amit R. Paley Washington Post Staff Writer

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said yesterday that she welcomed proposals to "perfect and tweak" the No Child Left Behind law as Congress prepares for what could become a divisive debate on renewal of the landmark education initiative.

But in an interview five days before the act's fifth anniversary, Spellings said its implementation was on track. She rejected calls for a major rewrite of the law, including some proposals advanced yesterday by a coalition of about 100 groups with a stake in education.

"We've made more progress in the last five years than the previous 28 years," Spellings said. "Can the law be improved? Should we build on what we've done and all of that sort of thing? You bet. But I don't hear people saying: 'You know what? We really don't need to have education for all students.' "

Her remarks come as various groups begin to weigh in on the law and what they believe works and what does not. The No Child Left Behind law is scheduled to be reauthorized by Congress, but it is uncertain when lawmakers will act.

The Forum on Educational Accountability -- a coalition that includes education, religious, civil rights and disability rights groups -- said yesterday that the law overemphasizes standardized tests and arbitrary academic targets. The coalition also criticized penalties the law imposes on schools that fail to meet standards.

"We don't have to throw out the whole law and make a big political battle," said Reginald M Felton, a senior lobbyist for the National School Boards Association, a member of the coalition. "But we need to change from the punitive, 'gotcha!' kind of approach to actual support for progress."

The coalition includes the National Parent Teacher Association, the NAACP and the National Education Association, a teachers union. The coalition has called for more federal education funding to help schools meet the law's mandates.

Spellings said the past five years have laid the foundation for the law's key goal of ensuring that every child can read and write at grade level by 2014. Under the law, states must test all students in reading and math from grades 3 to 8 and once in high school. Schools that fail to make adequate progress face a range of penalties.

The Bush administration has granted some states flexibility in how they carry out the law. For example, North Carolina and Tennessee are experimenting with a way to rate schools that emphasizes the year-to-year academic growth of students rather than how scores compare with fixed benchmarks.

"Have we learned something as we've made public policy for the last five years that we ought to act on going forward? Absolutely," Spellings said. "And I've done some of those things."

She added, "Those are some of the areas that ought to be discussed in the context of reauthorization."

The law, which passed Congress in 2001 with overwhelming bipartisan support, was signed by President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002.

Yesterday, Spellings lauded the incoming education committee chairmen, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), as "stalwarts" who have "stayed very true to the core principles of this law."