Education and Labor Committee Hears from Members of Congress on Ways to Improve No Child Left Behind

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- Members of the House Education and Labor Committee held a bipartisan meeting this afternoon to hear recommendations from other members of Congress on ways to improve the No Child Left Behind Act. Senior lawmakers on the committee said they appreciated the opportunity to hear from their colleagues, and pledged to work with them to make the law work better for schools across the country.

"Our committee is committed to working in an open and collaborative way to improve the No Child Left Behind law," said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the committee. "Just like the people they represent, members of Congress have diverse views about the law, including concerns about how it could work better. But it's clear that we all share the goal of making sure that every child is able to succeed in school, and we will work together to achieve that goal."

"After decades of failed reform efforts and with hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars spent with little or no success in our nation’s classrooms, the No Child Left Behind Act represents a positive step forward for students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers," said Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), the Education and Labor Committee’s Senior Republican Member.  "The amount of interest we saw today -- from both sides of the aisle -- reaffirms this law's impact and the depth of support for closing the achievement gap.  I appreciated hearing my colleagues' varying perspectives on what Congress should address during this year's reauthorization.  Their comments and recommendations will be taken into serious consideration as we move forward."

"Today's meeting was an important step in the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. I am committed to working with Democrats and Republicans to improve the law where it should be improved and strengthen it where it should be strengthened," said Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education. "Every member shares the same goal in this process -- to help provide all of our nation's children with the world-class education they need and deserve."

"Today's listening session provided an excellent opportunity for me and my three colleagues to hear other members' thoughts on No Child Left Behind – feedback that we greatly appreciate as we gear up to reauthorize this critical legislation," said Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), Ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.  "It is extremely important that we listen to all those who represent the interests of Americans throughout the country to ensure that the reauthorization language comprehensively approaches NCLB's commitment to reaching the goal of proficiency by the 2013-2014 school year and addresses new and better ways of supporting continuous student achievement."

So far this year, the full committee and the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee have held 11 hearings, as well as numerous events with local education leaders, on issues surrounding No Child Left Behind.  The Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, Progressive Caucus, Republican Study Committee, Republican Tuesday Group, and 25 members of Congress participated in the meeting today.

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