Elementary & Secondary Education
The current No Child Left Behind law has the right goal—closing the achievement gap and improving education for all students—but I strongly believe that the law needs to be reformed. Broadly labeling schools as failing and then punishing them with one-size-fits-all sanctions doesn’t do our students any good. Student testing under the No Child Left Behind law has also pressured schools to narrow their curricula, so they focus on teaching basic skills at the expense of more complex skills needed to get ahead in the 21st century—skills such as critical thinking, writing, and creative problem solving.
As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee I look forward to participating in the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind legislation, which will be an opportunity for reform. I believe that we need to recognize progress, give good schools the flexibility to be great schools, and provide struggling schools with the resources and support to implement school improvement plans that suit local needs. We need to make sure that schools have the leadership they need to improve. We also have a responsibility to address the needs of Minnesota’s most vulnerable students.
