Chairman Miller Statement on Report on State Academic Standards 

Thursday, June 7, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today in response to the National Center for Education Statistics’ Institute of Education Sciences report that compares state academic standards to the standards of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly called the ‘nation’s report card’:

“The report released today by the Institute of Education Sciences makes it clear that many states need to strengthen the rigor of their academic standards. I thank the Institute for this report because it provides much-needed transparency on the widely varying definitions of proficiency that different states have set for their children. All children, no matter where they live, deserve to be held to high standards. If children are challenged and supported, then they can learn to high standards, and that should be our goal for them.

“Across the country, parents, educators, and administrators are looking for more flexibility under the No Child Left Behind law, not less, and that is the direction in which we intend to go as we work to improve the law. We also must give states the resources they need to help their students achieve to high standards. In exchange, states must hold up their end of the bargain by maintaining rigorous and high-quality standards and helping all children to achieve them.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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