"My school was a high-performing school one year. Students, for the most part, are interested in learning and they perform well. The next year, because one too few students took the test, we were in need of improvement.

"This demonstrates that the requirements for meeting AYP certainly are not indicative of true academic progress by students in the school. Also, given the nature of standardized tests and the difficulty of improving as one moves toward the upper end of the spectrum, most schools will eventually be in need of improvement.

"Because of NCLB, teachers at my middle school, some with excellent evaluations for 10 or more years, suddenly were told they were not highly qualified. Many were special education teachers whose students had made excellent progress. These teachers were under a great deal of stress because one office would tell them that they had to meet one set of criteria, but if they talked to someone else, they would get a different answer.

 "They were conscientious and wanted to continue working in their profession. Many of them spent hundreds of dollars to take a test to prove they were highly qualified. This cost, of course, was not repaid for by the school district but was borne by the individual. Many were under a great deal of stress for more than six months while they waited to hear whether they could continue in their jobs.

"High quality teachers should not have had to experience this stress."

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