'No Child' - fund it and fix it!

What your union is doing about NCLB

President Bush's so-called "No Child Left Behind" Act (NCLB) is full of lofty ideals. Unfortunately, it is $11 billion short and full of unfunded mandates that punish schools rather than improve them.

So what is your union doing about it?

At the state level - MEA-MFT is:
o Working with the Office of Public Instruction and Governor Martz to make sure Congress and the U.S. Secretary of Education understand Montana's problems in implementing NCLB requirements.

o Working with the Board of Public Education and Office of Public Instruction to adopt sensible interpretations of the federal law that protect Montana schools from the law's most onerous requirements.

o Helping our k-12 locals react to NCLB requirements by providing model contract language, informational presentations, and professional development resources.

At the national level - MEA-MFT's two national affiliates have made it a top priority to deal with the law on a number of fronts: legal, legislative, and political.

The National Education Association is:
o Launching a lawsuit to challenge unfunded mandates in the law. These mandates conflict with the law's own provision that says, "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to … mandate a State or any subdivision thereof to spend funds or incur any costs not paid for under this Act."

o Working to amend the law through an NEA drafted bill, the "Great Public Schools for Every Child Act." The bill calls on Congress to 1) fully fund NCLB; 2) grant flexibility to states in areas such as measuring teacher quality; 3) provide schools with the help they need, not just punishments; and 4) make sure paraprofessionals have time and resources to meet the new standards.

o Calling on all members to let elected officials know we are monitoring their "adequate yearly progress" in supporting public schools-with the final exam on Election Day! For more information, see www.nea.org/esea.

The American Federation of Teachers is:
o Helping state and local affiliates deal with the law's requirements.

o Educating Congress about difficulties with the law.

o Lobbying the Bush administration to amend regulations.

o Monitoring implementation of the law in states to protect AFT members and their students.

o Helping paraprofessionals pass NCLB muster (see MEA-MFT Today Sept/Oct 2003). For more information, see www.aft.org/esea.

How you can help
Contact Montana's congressional delegates: Senators Max Baucus and Conrad Burns and Representative Dennis Rehberg. Ask them to support NEA's Great Public Schools for Every Child bill to fund and fix No Child Left Behind.