House Committee on Education and Labor
U.S. House of Representatives

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Senior Republican Member of the House Education and Labor Committee, today issued the following statement on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act:

“No Child Left Behind is the law of the land because it balances real accountability with state and local flexibility and expanded parental choice like no education law before it.  Changes to the law that weaken any of these three pillars of NCLB – accountability, flexibility, and parental choice – will be met with strong opposition from House Republicans and are likely to be a fatal blow to the reauthorization process.

“Republicans began laying the foundation for NCLB’s reauthorization more than a year ago by kicking off a slate of bipartisan hearings on topics most important to the law’s future.  More than halfway through 2007, I am disappointed with the pace of negotiations and hopeful that we can reach an agreement soon.

“However, the content of the legislation is far more important than the calendar, and any attempts to weaken the law will be met with stiff resistance from House Republicans who have already joined with the civil rights community and business leaders in expressing concerns that some of the Democrat proposals will undermine transparency for parents and the ability to hold schools accountable for student performance.”

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