NCLB: the national rebellion continues

May 10, 2005

The NEA lawsuit against No Child Left Behind continued to garner nationwide coverage, including mentions in stories about the growing state rebellion by Time Magazine, National Journal and the Washington Post.

Also, the New York Times published a letter from NEA President Reg Weaver responding to its April 22 editorial critical of NEA.

Almost 18,000 petitions to fix and fund ESEA/NCLB have been sent to the Administration and Congress.

In related news, the governors of Maine and Wyoming have announced that each is exploring the possibility of joining NEA's lawsuit or another ESEA/NCLB lawsuit. Moreover, a bill to authorize Maine's attorney general to sue over the law has received strong support from a legislative committee.

And both NEA and VT-NEA testified last week before the Vermont House education committee in favor of a resolution in support of the NEA lawsuit.

Meanwhile, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings defended ESEA/NCLB last week in a USA Today column and in a speech to the Education Writers Association in St. Petersburg, Florida.

While admitting that some states are "experiencing growing pains" with the new law, Spellings said that "the contrary actions of a couple of states and one union do not constitute a 'grassroots rebellion'" and argued that there is a "quiet revolution-an underreported revolution" towards closing the achievement gap occurring in most states.

In other Education Dept. news, the Associated Press reported May 4 that the Department spent more than $9 million in taxpayer dollars in recent years on public relations activities to tout the Bush Administration's education policies. ESEA/NCLB services that were contracted included an analysis of coverage by education reporters, a fake video news segment and $240,000 to right-wing commentator Armstrong Williams to promote the law.

Republicans in Congress continue criticizing ESEA/NCLB. During a May 4 trip to New Hampshire, Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel stated that he opposes ESEA/NCLB, calling it "the largest federal land-grab in the history of education." And Kansas Republican Rep. Jerry Moran told a crowd in Longford, Kansas on May 2 that the law is an unfunded mandate that is "ruining the most noble profession there is - teaching" by burdening teachers with bureaucracy, paperwork, standardized testing and other requirements.

Growing Chorus of Voices in the States
Surrounded by state legislators and education officials, Utah Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed a measure May 2 that places the state's education accountability system ahead of ESEA/NCLB. The signing came after extensive, but failed, negotiations between the U.S. Department of Education and state officials.

Principal Rosemarie Smith of the Amelia Earhart Elementary School, where the legislation was signed, said, "I don't have a problem with accountability, but I think a bill that says one size fits all is not appropriate."

Secretary Spellings has warned that the Department might withhold $76 million that Utah receives in federal education money. Patti Harrington, Utah superintendent of public instruction, said that unless education officials in Washington change their minds, she will recommend a "dual system approach" to implementation - with Utah's system (U-PASS) "on the front page" and ESEA/NCLB taking up the rear.

Absurdities of the Law
Washington Post reporter Gene Weingarten went to the farthest location in the U.S. to find a great story and ended up in Savoonga, Alaska, an island located 130 miles out into the Bering Sea that is closer to Russia than the U.S. mainland.

The inhabitants of Savoonga are Yupiks, the westernmost Eskimo tribe. Their school used to offer a half hour per day of instruction in Siberian Yupik, their native language. But according to its principal, the school no longer teaches Siberian Yupik because its efforts to comply with ESEA/NCLB's strict requirements do not leave enough hours in the day.