Provide grants to states to significantly improve the quality of their assessments and place far greater emphasis on higher-order and critical thinking skills, instead of rote memorization.
Contact Your Senators Today!
Tell your Senators to cosponsor Senator Feingold's Improving Student Testing Act of 2007.
9/19/07
News from Capitol Hill...
SPECIAL ALERT
Tell Congress: SLOW DOWN and Take the Time to Get ESEA Reauthorization Right!
The House of Representatives is moving forward with very troubling legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind. The draft under discussion:
- Continues to measure school success overwhelmingly on just two (reading and math) low-quality statewide standardized tests;
- Fails to take into account adequately the unique needs of English Language Learners and students with disabilities for educationally appropriate assessments;
- Ignores the critical issues of class size reduction, access to quality early childhood education, and adequate resources for school facilities and materials;
- Contains pay for performance plans that link standardized test scores to teacher pay without the agreement of impacted teachers;
- Eliminates the High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) through which teachers can demonstrate that they are "highly qualified;" and
- Imposes many additional mandates and requirements on schools without any guarantee of additional funding.
Instead of rushing to pass legislation that will offer more bureaucracy, more mandates, and less help for students and educators, Congress should take the time to craft a bill that will truly help ensure great public schools for every child!
Send a Message to Congress Today!
Tell your Representative in Congress that you do not support the ESEA reauthorization draft currently under discussion. Urge Congress to take the time necessary to get ESEA reauthorization right! A copy of your message also will be sent automatically to House Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller.
9/14/07
News from Capitol Hill...
Tell Congress: Send NCLB Back to the Drawing Board — and Get it Right
NEA President Reg Weaver told the House Committee on Education and Labor on Monday that NEA could not support the draft of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB) released last week. It undermines educators' rights to bargain local contracts, includes a "pay-for-performance" plan that NEA cannot support, continues to define students and schools by high-stakes standardized tests, and fails to ensure the tools and resources needed to provide great public schools for every child.
NEA believes that Congress should slow down, talk with educators about pressing needs, and commit to making the necessary changes. Getting ESEA/NCLB right this time will take more than just minor adjustments.
Send a Message to Congress Today!
Tell your Representatives in Congress to oppose imposing test-based pay programs on teachers without their agreement.
Special Edition
9/7/07
News from Capitol Hill...
Tell Congress: Respect Educators -- Reject "Performance Pay" Based on Student Test Scores
The House Committee on Education and Labor has released a reauthorization draft for Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind (the teacher quality title) that contains provisions that could result in the imposition of test-based pay programs on teachers without their agreement.
NEA opposes these provisions and believes they must be changed to ensure that any such program is either agreed to through collective bargaining or, where bargaining doesn't exist, through a 75 percent majority vote of affected teachers.
Send a Message to Congress Today!
Tell your Representatives in Congress to oppose imposing test-based pay programs on teachers without their agreement.
9/7/07
News from Capitol Hill...
NEA President Reg Weaver to Testify Before Congress on ESEA Reauthorization
NEA President Reg Weaver will testify at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, September 10, before the House Education and Labor Committee on reauthorization of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind. The hearing will solicit comments on the Committee's draft bill (
PDF) to reauthorize Title I of ESEA.
NEA has already submitted a letter to the Committee outlining major concerns with the draft, including the continued focus on measuring schools based on two test scores, and the imposition of many additional mandates and requirements on schools and states without any guarantee of additional funding to meet them. The letter also expresses NEA's deep concerns about the extremely limited amount of time that was made available for a substantive and thorough review of the 435-page document.
To watch President Weaver's live testimony on Monday morning, go to the Committee Web site and click on the "live webcast" link on the right-hand side.
More NCLB Drafts Released; Your Comments Needed
The House Committee on Education and Labor has now released "discussion drafts" for reauthorization of all the other parts of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind.
Your Help Is Needed!
We urge you to review the drafts, which are posted on the Committee Web site, and share your feedback with us so that we can include your voice in our comments to the Committee. The deadline for submission of comments to the Committee is September 14, so please send comments to ESEAinfo@nea.org as soon as possible.
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