No Child Left Behind

I have heard from many parents, teachers, and education leaders in the 4th District who are concerned about the challenges presented by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This legislation was enacted in 2002 to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Although the measure was intended to bring greater accountability to public education, implementation of the law has been complex and problematic.

Under the law, each school is held accountable for the average score of its students on a variety of standardized tests well as the scores of each of nine subgroups of students. Even if schools are doing exceptionally well in terms of overall performance, they can be labeled "in need of improvement" if one or more of the subgroups is below the overall average score. Schools can be deemed “failing” – and lose federal funds – if they are “in need of improvement” for two or more consecutive years. This means of measuring success has led to concerns that educators are “teaching to the test” rather than providing a framework for conceptual understanding and instilling in students a real love of learning.

It has always been clear that meeting the goals of NCLB would require additional resources for our schools. For far too long the previous administration repeatedly proposed funding for the program that fell far short of what was envisioned at the time the measure was signed into law. As a result, school districts are required to achieve increasingly rigorous NCLB academic standards, administer annual reading and math tests to 3rd through 8th graders, and fulfill requirements for highly-qualified teachers with altogether inadequate federal resources.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included important education investments and reforms. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the Race to the Top (RTT) initiative, a $4.35 billion competitive grants program designed to spur education reform among states. North Carolina received a $400 million RTT grant in 2010. The goal of RTT is to encourage states to use funds to drive reform in four main areas: (1) teacher effectiveness and equitable distribution; (2) standards and assessments; (3) data systems; and (4) struggling schools.   The program was authorized as part of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund program of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which I supported. 

I will continue to work with the President and other members of Congress to improve our schools and to give every American child a fair chance to fulfill their potential.  And I am hopeful that these RTT funds will provide evidence of effective reforms and provide examples for States and local school districts throughout the country to follow as we work towards future reforms. 

In my view, federal education policy should not be about labeling schools negatively and discrediting public education without any remedy in mind. NCLB is scheduled to be reauthorized in the current Congress, so it is time for our country to engage in a debate about how best to diagnose problems in public education and lay the basis for successful intervention.

As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, I will continue fighting to provide the resources that states and local school districts need to offer the level of education that all of our teachers and students deserve.

More information on NCLB can be found here.

Testing
As one who has taught for many years, and as a parent of two children with contrasting test-taking aptitudes, I understand the concerns many people have with testing and result measurement. Tests are imperfect instruments for measuring learning, and there is a danger that instructors will "teach to the test" in order to show the needed aggregate proficiency rates.

NCLB requires less change in North Carolina than in many other states because of the annual testing that was already underway in our state. I continue to hear from students, teachers, and parents, however, who are concerned about the potential downsides of standardized testing for teaching and learning. While we have made some advances in test design, we need to work closely with teachers to ensure that testing does not distort or dominate their approach in the classroom.

Military Recruiting
Many parents have contacted me to ask if military recruitment in public schools is allowed under the NCLB Act. NCLB and the Fiscal Year 2002 National Defense Authorization Act both included provisions that require public schools that receive federal funding to give military recruiters the same access to secondary school students that they provide to postsecondary institutions or to prospective employers. In addition, these schools must comply with a request by a military recruiter or an institution of higher education for secondary students' "directory information," unless a parent has opted out of providing such information for their child.

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), schools must provide notice to parents of the types of student information that it publicly releases. This information, commonly referred to as "directory information," includes such items as names, addresses, and telephone numbers. The notice must include an explanation of a parent's right to request that the information not be disclosed without prior written consent.

As reinforcement to FERPA, NCLB contains a specific requirement that parents be notified that a school routinely discloses names, addresses, and telephone numbers to military recruiters upon request. The NCLB law specifies that a single notice provided through a mailing, student handbook, or other method that is reasonably calculated to inform parents of the above information is sufficient to satisfy the parental notification requirements. The notification must advise the parent of how to opt out of the public disclosure of directory information and the timeline within which to do so.

For additional information on this topic, please visit The Department of Education.