Statement by NEA President Reg Weaver on Today's NCSL Report
NEA Praises Latest Bipartisan Findings that
'No Child Left Behind' Law Urgently Needs Repairs
"The changes recommended today by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to the so-called 'No Child Left Behind' Act reinforce the concerns of a growing chorus of teachers and other educators, parents, administrators, school board members, chief state school officers, and others that this law must be fixed and funded in order to work.
"Republican and Democratic elected officials all over the country have witnessed first hand how the law's rigid, unfunded mandates are interfering with ongoing state and local efforts to boost achievement for all students. In fact, some of the loudest voices calling for change are coming from Republican legislators in states such as Idaho, Utah, and Virginia.
"Many find it troubling that the federal government is requiring cash-strapped school districts to pay for more bureaucracy, testing, transportation, private tutoring and other costly demands without providing the needed resources. In just four years, the federal government has broken its promises of adequate funding by $27 billion, and the President's budget for the upcoming year would shortchange children and schools by another $12 billion, leaving millions of children behind.
"With nearly twice as many schools last year being labeled 'in need of improvement' and hit with sanctions, the pressure is now building to focus almost exclusively on meeting federal testing mandates. Schools are being forced to cut arts, music, social studies, foreign languages, and recess while prepping students for one-size-fits-all standardized tests.
"NEA and its 2.7 million members know a better way to make the promise of No Child Left Behind a reality. Instead of saddling educators and schools with inflexible, bureaucratic mandates, the federal government should be focusing aid on classrooms, where it makes a difference. This means adequate resources for smaller class sizes, increased teacher training and parental involvement, expanded early childhood and after-school services, and up-to-date textbooks and materials.
"NEA has joined together with 47 other organizations calling for concrete common sense changes that would improve this law and support schools to close the achievement gap and improve achievement for all students."
Some key organizations urging changes to No Child Left Behind (click links for details):
Feb. 23, 2005
Contact:
Daniel Kaufman, (202) 822-7268
Michael Pons, (202) 822-7595
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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
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