WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Education Leaders Council (ELC), one of the nation’s leading voices in the drive for meaningful education reform, is urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass H.R. 1, President Bush’s No Child Left Behind education proposal. The House is expected to begin debate on the measure Thursday.

            ELC, led by outgoing Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan and Texas Education Commissioner Jim Nelson, is an organization of reform-minded education leaders who oversee the education of more than 14 million children - more than 30 percent of the nation’s K-12 public school students. The group’s board includes state education leaders in Michigan, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and other key states.

            “We write on behalf of our fellow state education chiefs and ELC colleagues to support H.R. 1, and to applaud your efforts to remain true to the core principles of President Bush’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ legislative proposal,” ELC said in a letter to House Education Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH). “We are very appreciative of your efforts to stand up to the inside-the-beltway interest groups and their allies in Congress who are attempting to block some of the key provisions of the Bush plan.”

            ELC highlighted several key provisions that led to its decision to support the bipartisan compromise crafted by committee Republicans and Democrats on H.R. 1:

More Flexibility for States and Localities. “While we continue to hold out hope that we may be able to pass a ‘full blown’ Straight A’s flexibility program, we strongly embrace the ‘Local Straight A’s’ portion of this bill,” ELC wrote. “This new concept would dramatically enhance flexibility for local school districts, giving them the freedom to make spending decisions with up to 50 percent of the federal education dollars they receive as long as they demonstrate results. Under current law, rigid and unnecessary federal rules frequently hamper local schools in their efforts to meet the unique needs of students. The plan would also give states considerable flexibility in spending the Federal funds they hold at the state level for Statewide activities and administration.”

More Choices for Parents. “H.R. 1 contains some very significant provisions to extend additional educational choices to parents, particularly those with kids attending chronically failing schools,” ELC notes. “There is strong public school choice language in this bill, and we were very gratified to see that for the first time ever, parents in chronically failing schools will be allowed to take a portion of their Title I money and send their child to a private entity for tutoring and remediation. . . these provisions will make schools more accountable and reinforce the important message that public schools exist to serve children; the children do not serve the system.”

Support for Charter Schools. We appreciate your continued strong support for public charter schools. We hope that you will continue to be sensitive to their unique needs - from facilities funding to start-up costs to fighting off new and burdensome Federal requirements in the name of “accountability” or “teacher quality” despite the fact that charters are already accountable in these areas under state law.

Strong Accountability. “Whether ‘charter states’ or not, states and schools receiving federal dollars should be held accountable for delivering results for children,” ELC wrote. “We strongly believe that meaningful accountability begins with clear, measurable standards, and annual assessments of student learning at the state level, using consistent, comparable tests in all applicable grades and all parts of a state. It is also important that we have an independent audit or ‘second snapshot’ of these results. We applaud the accountability provisions in your bill and hope they will continue to be improved upon throughout the legislative process.”

            “[W]e support H.R. 1, and appreciate the work of your Committee to put it together,” ELC wrote. “As this bill moves through the legislative process, we urge you to stay the course, stick to the core principles of President Bush’s proposal, and refuse to yield to those who want the 35-year old status quo maintained by another five-year extension-or who want the façade of reform without the reality.”

            “We are in your corner, and deeply appreciate your commitment to improve education for all children. We look forward to continuing to work with you in this historic endeavor,” ELC concluded.

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