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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION MAKES
WYDEN/CASTILLO-RECOMMENDED CHANGES TO “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND”
LAW
Senator, Superintendent hope action signals
willingness
to further examine, significantly improve statute
March 15, 2004
Washington, DC – The U.S.
Department of Education announced today that it will make changes
to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law as recommended by U.S.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Oregon Superintendent of Public
Instruction Susan Castillo earlier this month. Wyden and Castillo
unveiled a proposal to improve several components of the NCLB
law on March 2; today, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced
changes to requirements for rural teachers and teachers of multiple
subjects. In accordance with Wyden and Castillo’s advice,
Secretary Paige announced that rural teachers will now have more
flexibility in meeting “highly qualified teacher”
requirements. In addition, states will be able to modify their
Highly Objective Uniform State Standard[s] of Evaluation (HOUSSE),
which will assist teachers of English Language Learners as well
as multiple-subject teachers in rural schools.
“When I spoke to Secretary
Paige last week, he indicated to me that he welcomed our proposal
on No Child Left Behind, so today’s announcement represents
a good first step toward the changes needed to improve the law
for Oregon’s children and schools,” said Wyden. “Hopefully
the Department of Education will fully implement today’s
changes and follow up with a number of others we’ve recommended
- to assess schools more fairly, to create a national strategy
to improve and expand our teacher workforce, to better involve
parents in their children’s education, and to give extra
help to students who need it most.”
“I am pleased that Secretary
Paige is moving in the right direction and is listening to Oregon
and other states about the changes needed to successfully implement
No Child Left Behind,” stated Castillo. “Oregon’s
teachers have always been highly qualified and the new flexibility
makes the federal definition a more accurate reflection of the
state’s high standards for classroom teachers. I’ll
continue to work with Senator Wyden and the U.S. Department of
Education to secure the additional improvements to the law we
have proposed.”
Wyden and Castillo synthesized
their full proposal from the concerns and suggestions of parents,
teachers, and school and community leaders; Wyden has held numerous
“listening sessions” on NCLB across Oregon in recent
months, and Castillo visited 35 school districts in the state
during her first year in office to see first-hand the progress
districts are making to close the achievement gap and to gather
feedback on NCLB. If the Secretary of Education fails to act administratively
on other components of the Wyden/Castillo initiative, Wyden will
introduce legislation in Congress to change the law.
The Wyden/Castillo initiative
is designed to address the law’s least workable provisions
and enhance its benefits for Oregon children and schools. Their
proposed improvements to No Child Left Behind include:
- making school assessment fairer
through composite scoring
- developing a comprehensive,
coordinated strategy to promote teacher recruitment and retention
in poor and rural schools
- involving parents through
Parent Information and Resource Centers that are currently unfunded
by the Federal government, and
- providing improved instruction
and flexibility in meeting requirements for students still learning
English and for their teachers.
In addition to the changes Secretary
Paige announced today for rural teachers, Wyden and Castillo have
also asked the Department of Education to give rural schools alternate
means of meeting the requirements of NCLB when school choice is
unworkable.
Wyden is also pursuing full
funding of the No Child Left Behind Act. Last week he voted to
amend the Federal budget to provide full funding; the proposal
was defeated in the Senate largely along party lines.
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