Reject 'No Child' Draft Language, Slow Down & Do It Right, Weaver Says

From the NEA

NEA President Reg Weaver called on members of the House Education and Labor Committee Monday (September 10, 2007) to reject draft language currently under discussion for the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.

While testifying before the committee, Weaver asked members to slow the legislative process down in order to make a truly meaningful and major course correction in how the federal government supports state and local education initiatives.

“We are not able to support the discussion draft as currently written," Weaver told the committee. "We are hopeful that the committee will take the time to make meaningful changes.”

Some 40 NEA members and staff leaders from around the country joined the NEA president on Capitol Hill to lobby for rejection of the draft language. Members from targeted congressional districts with members on the committee were invited to take part in the attempt to persuade members of Congress not to miss this opportunity to "get it right."

"The draft that has been provided for discussion makes only minor tweaks in the divisive and dysfunctional law that parents, teachers, and public schools have been saddled with these past five years,” Weaver said. “If the committee is not going to make meaningful changes that truly address the needs of America’s public school students, a major opportunity will have been missed.”

Chief among educator concerns with the discussion draft is the continued focus on high stakes testing, punishments, labeling of children, and unfunded federal mandates.

While these items are not corrected in the draft language, equally important educator concerns are left out of the discussion altogether, Weaver said. These include initiatives to reduce class size, increase the training and retention of highly qualified teachers, expand access to early childhood education, and provide adequate funding for improved school facilities and materials.

The draft language also makes an assault on labor, Weaver said. If this proposed language should become law, local school districts would be allowed to impose pay plans on school employees while bypassing existing state collective bargaining laws. One draft provision would mandate that local districts use student test scores as the basis of determining teacher pay. Still other provisions would curtail employee protections against arbitrary transfers and reassignments.

“We are gravely disappointed that the committee has released language that undermines educators’ collective bargaining rights,” Weaver told the committee. “This is an unprecedented attack on a particular segment of the labor community. This is offensive and disrespectful to educators.”

Part of the problem, according to Weaver, is that the committee is moving too fast to truly focus on the critical needs of America’s public schools.

“One of the major reasons the current No Child Left Behind law has been so divisive and dysfunctional for public schools these past five years is the very fact that it was passed without any real time for review or input from those who work in public schools,” Weaver said. “That’s why we’ve seen so many unintended and negative consequences associated with this law. How can we make sure that every child has access to a great public school when we’re not even given enough time to study what’s being proposed?

“We know that in the existing law,” added Weaver, “there have been countless places where the language was unclear, where the provisions of one section directly contradicted those of another section, and where the act was in conflict with other existing federal education laws. The children of America deserve more than being the victims of a process allowing politicians to pad their scorecard for passing legislation, while the end result of that legislation is actually detrimental to teaching, learning, and providing great public schools as a basic right for every child.”

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Posted September 11, 2007