Issues
Education No Child Left Behind
The President signed the No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB)
into law in January 2002. This law, which reauthorized the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, is one of
the primary laws that govern federal elementary and secondary
education programs. The Elementary and Secondary Education
Act is scheduled for reauthorization this year and I look
forward to working with my colleagues to ensure needed changes
are made to the testing mandates that were created under NCLB.
I voted against NCLB because it is not the best approach for
Wisconsin students, teachers, and school districts. In particular,
I could not support a new, largely unfunded federal mandate
for annual, high-stakes testing in grades 3-8. The federal
government should leave decisions about the frequency of standardized
testing up to the states and local school districts that bear
the responsibility for educating our children. While standardized
testing does have a role to play in measuring and improving
student achievement, one high-stakes test alone cannot accurately
and responsibly measure our students or our schools.
There are a number of provisions in this law that I do support,
such as funding for school libraries and reading programs,
and increased funding for after-school programs and a number
of small programs that were at risk of being cut. I was also
pleased that the law authorizes specific funding levels for
the Title I program and included programs to help rural school
districts. This funding is vital for Wisconsin school districts.
Unfortunately, levels of funding for the many programs under
ESEA have not reached their promised levels.
In addition to my concerns about high-stakes testing, I am
also concerned that the President's budget requests for the
fiscal years since enactment of NCLB – one of the centerpieces
of his domestic policy – have under-funded the programs that
he signed into law and have actually eliminated funding for
a variety of programs authorized by this law. The federal
government has a responsibility to come through with education
funds that we have promised to states and local school districts.
To do otherwise sets students and educators up for failure
with respect to the federal mandates we have imposed upon
them.
While I certainly share the President's goal of improving
education for all students and closing the achievement gap
that exists between low-income students and their peers, I
remain skeptical of an approach that relies on high-stakes
testing. I continue to hear from people around our state about
the negative impact that this law is having in our schools.
Due to the concerns raised by my constituents over the past
several years, I have sent letters to the Senate, Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for the past four
years asking the Committee to have a series of hearings on
the implementation of the NCLB and its consequences for students,
teachers, schools, and school districts. I am pleased the
Senate and House committees have already started to hold roundtable
discussions and hearings this year as part of the reauthorization
process.
A full and deliberative reauthorization process is needed
and substantial changes must be made to the testing mandates
of NCLB. Please click here
to read the latest copy of my letter, cosigned by nine of
my colleagues this year. I hope that the ongoing Senate and
House hearings will be a first step to addressing the problems
with this law and to ensuring that the voices of public school
students, teachers, administrators, and parents in Wisconsin
are heard during the reauthorization process.
I will continue to monitor the implementation of this law,
and I am interested in your views on this and other issues
that affect Wisconsin's public schools. Should you wish to
learn more about the No Child Left Behind Act, I encourage
you to visit the Department
of Education's website.
No
Child Left Behind Act
Student Testing
Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act
Teacher Quality
Other K-12
Education Issues
Higher
Education
Education
Main
|
