Give Up? Never.

Members across the country show how keeping the pressure on the fight to fix NCLB can make a difference at home.

Images courtesy of NDEA

Perseverance pays. That's the lesson the North Dakota Education Association (NDEA) learned in its recent stand-off with the U.S. Department of Education over the definition of who's qualified to teach in that state. At issue was the Department's insistence—not just once, but in two separate rulings in December and January—that North Dakota's 6,000 elementary and middle school teachers did not meet the "highly qualified" standard under the federal, so-called No Child Left Behind law (NCLB).

But NDEA and its allies—school administrators, school board members, the governor, and state legislators—refused to back down, even when the Department reaffirmed its ruling. They sounded the message loud and clear that North Dakota teachers are already highly qualified and pressed the Department to take a closer look at the state's high content standards for licensure and teacher training, both in place since the 1960s. Finally, after two months of hard and heavy lobbying, the Department reversed its decision.

What made the difference? "The hours, the strategy, the calls, the meetings too numerous to count," says Gloria Lokken, NDEA president.

Dramatic, for sure, but the NDEA victory is just one of many examples of how grassroots activism around NCLB has yielded big dividends for NEA members since the law took effect three years ago. From California to Maine, Association activists have locked arms to draw attention to the law's flaws and problems. They've attended hearings, written letters to the editor, shared NCLB absurdities with the press, held house parties, and found numerous other ways to get NEA's fix-and-fund message to the public and members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats.

Now, three years later, public opinion polls show that support for NCLB is dropping. And in the last year alone, the Administration announced four major rules changes that have added much-needed flexibility in the areas of special education, limited-English proficient students, "highly qualified" teacher rules, and the student test participation rate.

"so many of the education issues we address are complex, and our own experience tells us that the solutions are not always simple or speedy." —NEA President Reg Weaver

NEA President Reg Weaver says it's grassroots activism that's made the difference. Pointing to the resolve among North Dakota educators, he says, "It's exactly that kind of persistence and energy that pays off for our members and our students." Still, he adds, "So many of the education issues we address are complex, and our own experience tells us that the solutions are not always simple or speedy."

Consider Eureka, Illinois, kindergarten teacher and grass-roots activist Sara Kaufman as a case in point. It was in October 2003 when she first invited Congressman Ray LaHood (R-IL) to meet with teachers from her local and region on NCLB. "We came to him in a civil, peaceful, Martin Luther King-kind of way," she says. "We wanted to make sure he knew that we weren't blaming him for the flaws in the law, and that what we wanted was to make it more livable, more workable."

Kaufman thinks the Association struck gold that night. LaHood appreciated the pragmatic approach, and since then, the conversations have expanded to include other NCLB stakeholders, such as regional superintendents and members of the Illinois legislature. The bigger group has met several times, and LaHood has shared some of their specific concerns with Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), a key player on NCLB issues in Congress.

And then there's language arts teacher Coy Marquardt, vice president of the Iowa City Education Association, who has been speaking out on NCLB every chance he gets. He's made presentations to Association building reps and solicited testimonials from teaching colleagues on the ill effects of the law. He's lobbied state and federal legislators on the need to fix and fund NCLB and participated in community forums on the law. He's talked with local reporters about NCLB's flaws and written letters to the editor to keep the issue in the public's eye.

"Everyone, including our Republican and Democratic officials, recognizes there are significant problems with the law," Marquardt says. "The challenge will be to keep the pressure up until the necessary changes are made."

Back in North Dakota, teachers say they're clear about what can happen when members refuse to throw in the towel. "You never know the connections that may be out there—so you do everything you can think of and pray it will work," says NDEA's Lokken.

"We never doubted our teachers were highly qualified," she adds, "but it was a relief to have the Department of Education finally agree with us.

—Nancy Kochuk