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The
federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) is due to be reauthorized
in 2009, and advocacy groups are contacting their lawmakers to suggested
changes.
NCLB impacts the education
of all public school students. The core of the program is annual state
testing in grades 3-12 with negative repercussions for districts whose
students do not meet state standards of proficiency.
NCLB goals for
improvement are unrealistic as prescribed by
law. Almost all school districts
in our nation will be
labeled as failing within a decade. And those with the greatest numbers of
disadvantaged students are already so
labeled ,even if
they provide programs and services identified as effective.
Schools labeled as
failing are required to pay for
additional academic services by outside institutions, public or private. All teachers and
paraprofessionals in public schools will need to be "highly qualified",
whereas those in private institutions providing the required
additional academic services will not need such certification.
Failing schools must pay for
transportation to send students requesting such service to another
non-failing school in its own or neighboring district if there is room in
the non-failing school. (This provision assumes that there are lots of
good schools around that are only partially full.)
The
NYS Council of School Superintendents has published a series on the effects
of NCLB:
1-
Accountability for
Failure to Make Progress
2- Increased Funding and Flexibility
3- Higher Qualifications for Teachers and
Paraprofessionals
4- New Funding for Teacher and Principal
Training and Recruitment
More than 100 national
organizations representing educational, civic, civil rights, and religious
groups have adopted a "Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) Act" listing problems with the law that interfere with student
learning and funding fairness. Access the statement at
http://www.fairtest.org/joint statement civil rights grps 10-21-04.html
MCSBA Position
on NCLB
MCSBA
Position on 2007 House of Representatives
suggested revisions to NCLB
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