No Child Left Behind update

Bimonthly update from the National Education Association
Feb. 14, 2005

President Bush's FY06 budget & No Child
The Bush administration proposed a $2.5 trillion budget on February 7 that would eliminate or severely cut 50 education programs, including $1.2 billion for vocational education state grants to high schools and community colleges.

ESEA/NCLB FY06 funding would rise only 1.3 percent, leaving a shortfall of $12 billion below the authorized level under the law and a cumulative five-year shortfall of $39 billion. For updated state-by-state data on cuts and shortfalls for nine major ESEA/NCLB programs and five other key education areas, go to www.nea.org/lac/fy06edfunding/index.html

Key Republicans raise doubts about Bush's
high school testing plan
While the Bush Administration says it wants to expand ESEA/NCLB testing to two additional years of high school, some key Republicans in Congress appear much less enthusiastic.

The Washington Post reported February 9 that Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), "an influential leader of House conservatives, said 50 Republicans gathered in Baltimore this past week and discussed, among other things, an overwhelming desire to protest the expansion of government by opposing Bush's education plan for high school students…Pence predicted that a significantly larger number will vote against expanding the program to cover high schools."

In addition, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate education and early childhood subcommittee, said he wants to look first at how No Child Left Behind is working in lower grade levels "so we can avoid any mistakes when we consider going on into high school."

Strange bedfellows
Utah State Rep. Margaret Dayton, a conservative Republican who "adores President Bush," said she will continue to push her bill on ESEA/NCLB, which calls for the federal education law to take a back seat to the state's statutes, especially when the two levels of government conflict.

Utah's House Education Committee unanimously approved Dayton's legislation on February 3, 2005. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that both the conservative Utah Eagle Forum and the Utah Education Association have endorsed Dayton's bill and a related measure. "[The legislation] makes the statement that we believe the federal government has overstepped its authority," said UEA President Pat Rusk. "It says we believe in each other and trust in each other to educate our children."

Other state and local updates
Missouri has won approval from the U.S. Department of Education to substantially lower its AYP (adequate yearly progress) requirements for 2005. Virginia and Connecticut are also lobbying the Department for waivers from certain ESEA/NCLB requirements.

Other voices calling for changes in NCLB
With more than 800 school board leaders in town to lobby Congress for changes to the law, the National School Boards Association released January 31 its NCLB legislative proposal, which calls for many of the same changes advocated by NEA.

"Our proposal eases the financial burden on districts and gives schools and states more flexibility in meeting the law's requirements," said NSBA executive director Anne L. Bryant. "We also want to make sure that the information provided to the public about achievement levels accurately reflects performance by students, schools, and districts." NEA is working closely with NSBA and supports its proposals.