Chairman Miller: New Report Highlights Need to Strengthen States’ Standards in ESEA Reauthorization

Thursday, October 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement on a new report released today by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute that examined states’ academic and testing standards under the No Child Left Behind Act.

“The goal of the No Child Left Behind law is to help all children learn to high standards. This report shows that some states have embraced the goal of the law and have insisted upon high standards for their children. Unfortunately, this report also shows that some states have gone in the opposite direction, choosing to lower their standards. This might make life easier for state officials, but it directly undermines the promise of the law, ultimately keeping many children from the strong education they deserve.

“The federal government should help states to set rigorous standards that fully prepare students for college or good jobs. And we must provide parents, educators, and schools with accurate and comprehensive information on what students are learning and how standards compare across states. This report highlights that these proposals are critically needed to help states develop high standards, and they are vital to our efforts to improve and strengthen the law.”

A discussion draft for the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law circulated by Chairman Miller and the Committee’s Senior Republican, Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), includes proposals to strengthen states’ standards by:

• Encouraging states to work with their higher education and business communities to develop new and rigorous standards that measure skills that today’s students need to succeed in college and the workforce, including critical thinking and problem-solving skills; and
• Directing the National Academy of Sciences to study the best ways to compare standards across states; directing the Secretary of Education to develop a common scale for states using the results of this study; and making this information available to the public.  

For more information on the discussion draft, click here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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