Fix No Child Left Behind Act Before Applying to High Schools, Says DeLauro States Need Funding, Resources for Law to Succeed

Fix No Child Left Behind Act Before Applying to High Schools, Says DeLauro States Need Funding, Resources for Law to Succeed

MIDDLETOWN, CONN. - Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3), joined by local education administrators, today called on the president to fix the problems with the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) before implementing the law in high schools. The president's budget for Fiscal Year 2006 proposes extending NCLB accountability mandates to high schools by requiring school districts to test reading and math skills each year in grades 10, 11 and 12. DeLauro was joined by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who discussed the $8 million in unfunded mandates NCLB placed on Connecticut and the legal action his office is considering.

"The president is proposing to replace programs that have a proven track record in helping students go to college - like GEAR UP and Talent Search - with the same testing framework as NCLB," said DeLauro. "Testing alone will not ensure that our students are competitive in today's global economy. American high schools need high standards and the resources necessary to meet them so that our students can compete and our economy can thrive."

According to data presented at the national governor's education summit, the high school drop-out rate is on the rise: 32 percent of students who enter high school do not graduate. Another thirty percent finish high school but aren't ready for college or work. In 2001, India graduated a million more students from college than the United States did.

"Helping students learn has always been our teachers' number one goal - it needs to be the government's as well," said DeLauro. "What so many schools are discovering, however, is that absent the funding to enforce No Child Left Behind's accountability measures, we may effectively be replacing the learning process with the testing process."

The No Child Left Behind Act has been found to be inflexible and highly restrictive for teachers and students. Since its passage, the law has been funded at a level that is billions below what was promised. The president's budget for 2006 is $9.4 billion less than the $22.75 billion originally called for in the law, placing unfunded mandates on states. Utah became the first state to pass a bill that orders state officials to ignore NCLB provisions. The National Education Association (NEA) - the nation's largest teacher's union - recently filed a suit on behalf of states and school districts like Connecticut.

"Strong accountability measures must be backed with funding to implement them," said DeLauro. "The president has not kept his promise to America's elementary schools, which has greatly affected the impact of this law. Significant reforms to the NCLB law are needed before we can institute sweeping changes to America's high schools."

Last month, DeLauro introduced the No Child Left Behind Reform Act, legislation that provides states with more flexibility in measuring student achievement, allows schools to target school choice and supplemental services to the students that demonstrate the need for them, and ensures that NCLB's highly qualified teacher provisions are both rigorous and reasonable. Identical legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Chris Dodd.

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2005/May/NCLB_HS_05_02_05.html