The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a July 24 hearing on the implementation of the No Child Behind Act (P.L. 107-110) enacted last year. The law renewed federal education programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The Senate held a similar hearing on April 23 (see The Source, 4/26/02).
In his opening remarks, Committee Chair John Boehner (R-OH) noted that accountability is the centerpiece of the No Child Left Behind Act. “For a generation, we pumped billions into a system that lacked accountability, never insisting on results,” he said. “That kind of thinking is no longer acceptable, and it’s why the No Child Left Behind Act has the potential to be a pivotal moment in American education,” he added.
Undersecretary of Education Eugene Hickok, the sole witness on the first panel, testified on the progress made by his agency in implementing the new law. “Implementing No Child Left Behind involves more than just issuing regulations, reviewing applications, and making grants,” he told the committee. “It really means bringing the whole country together around the idea that, if we are to continue to flourish as a nation, no child really can be left behind; that it is time to stop making excuses for educational failure; and time to use the framework provided by this legislation to get on with what we have to do,” he said.
Mr. Hickok explained that four key principles are guiding the implementation of the Act: increased accountability for results, increased choices for parents and students, greater flexibility for states and local schools systems, and a focus on what works. Another guiding principle “is to regulate only when absolutely necessary, because non-regulatory guidance tends to provide states and local educational agencies with greater flexibility,” he said. “Our goal is to actively seek input from people outside of Washington,” he added.
Outlining some of the provisions in the law, Mr. Hickok said that the legislation requires annual tests in reading and math for students in grades 3-8 and greatly expands the flexibility of the states to use federal funds to meet state and local needs and priorities. Parents of children in failing schools can transfer their children to better-performing schools and enlist the aid of tutors or send their children to after-school or summer school programs using federal funds.
States and local school systems must implement programs “that reflect scientifically-based research,” he said, “particularly in the area of reading.” Describing the Reading First literacy initiative, he explained, “All states will be eligible to receive formula grants for implementation of programs of scientifically-based reading instruction, particularly in schools where high percentages of students are not learning to read.” Early Reading First “is a companion program,” designed to prepare preschoolers for reading once they enter school, he added.
Mr. Hickokcreported that 39 states have applied for participation in the Reading First Program, and this week, Secretary of Education Rodney Paige announced the first group of awards to Alabama, Colorado, and Florida. Subsequent awards will be announced early next month.
Thirteen states have announced their intention to apply for the State-Flex and Local-Flex demonstration initiatives established by the new law. “They allow selected states and districts to consolidate their federal funds and use them for any authorized purpose, in exchange for a commitment to improve student achievement,” he explained.
Additionally, the Department of Education has created numerous publications on the No Child Left Behind Act, including a parents’ guide, brochures, and fact sheets on the provisions of the law. The Department also has set up a website, which provides information about the new law and a bi-weekly e-newsletter is sent to more than 11,000 subscribers.
During the question and answer period, Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI) said that she has heard a lot of grumbling because of the public school choice provisions in the law. For instance, 25 schools that lack achievement have been singled out “in the rural part of my state,” she explained. Under the law, parents are offered an option of moving their children to a better-performing school, but “transportation is difficult in rural Hawaii,” she said.
During a lengthy question and answer period, Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) asked, “Are the resources provided by the federal government adequate to implement the law?”
Mr. Hickok replied, “The nation spends a great deal of money on education, but we need to spend the money in a much smarter fashion.” He added, “The money from the federal government is enough, by far,” he added.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) asked about teacher salaries and wondered if low pay sends a message that “we don’t value education.”
Mr. Hickok emphasized that teacher’s salaries are determined at the local level. Oftentimes, he said, “the best teachers go the schools where they are not needed, because the pay is better,” he responded. “That’s strictly a local decision,” he repeated.
The second panel included representatives from the business and higher education communities. Christopher Edley of Harvard University discussed the new law and made some recommendations on how best to implement it. He was particularly pleased by the accountability provisions in the legislation as well as its emphasis on at-risk youth. “For the first time the academic achievement of the major racial and ethnic groups, socio-economically disadvantaged students, English language learners, and children with disabilities, will be at the core of whether our schools are judged to be successful,” he testified. “No longer can schools with sky-rocketing drop-out rates or racially identifiable pockets of academic stagnation and failure earn a passing grade,” he said.
He cited countless indicators that “portray a socially, economically, and morally unacceptable picture of opportunity in America that is coded by color and class, a picture that must change as a matter of urgent national interest and simple justice.” He told the committee that, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, among 12th graders, 17 percent of whites are reading below the basic level of competency, compared to 43 percent of African Americans, 36 percent of Hispanics, and 25 percent of Asian American/Pacific Islanders. On 12th grade math scores, 20 percent of whites scored below the basic level of competency compared to 70 percent of African Americans and 58 percent of Hispanics.
He told the committee that he was frustrated by the slow pace of institutional reform. “The pace of the Department’s work must match the urgency felt by an informed parent who senses the accumulating disadvantage of opportunities lost, month by month, year by year,” he recommended.
Richard Laine of the Illinois Business Roundtable had numerous recommendations for the implementation of the Act. “No longer can we fail to recognize that improving schools means improving the economic opportunities of our poorest communities,” he told the committee. “Economic development must become an integral means to improving our schools just as school improvement must become an integral part of any economic development strategy,” he added.
Many of his recommendations were aimed at the states and local communities. The states “must come to grips with the notion that money truly does matter in the quality of a child’s education,” he advised. Equally important is “how the money is spent,” he said, and added that more attention should be focused on improving the quality of teachers, revising the out-dated salary structure that pays teachers for years and units, rather than knowledge, skills, and results, and the length and structure of the school year.
