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By Dustin Beilke
WEAC members who need to know more about the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) have many resources available to them through WEAC and the NEA.
The ESEA law was reauthorized in January 2002 when it was signed by President Bush.
The ESEA – which the Bush administration likes to call the “No Child Left Behind” law – is the main federal education law, describing federal requirements for the nation’s public schools, most of which receive some form of aid under the statute, PL 107-110. ESEA was first enacted in 1965 when it was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It is revised every five to seven years.
The administration’s radical rewriting of the law is extremely controversial. Critics believe its strong emphasis on standardized tests robs school districts and teachers of control over their classrooms and the content of their educational offerings. Rather than providing support to help schools succeed, the law emphasizes punitive measures against schools that fail to meet what many believe are unreasonable requirements. Also, the law is severely underfunded, making it nearly impossible for many schools to meet its standards.
Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager issued a ruling in May saying ESEA is probably administered unconstitutionally and illegally in Wisconsin. Lautenschlager’s opinion was the first of its kind in the nation, finding that the federal government is requiring state governments to spend their own money to implement the law in violation of federal statutes and the Constitution.
WEAC is working to educate members and citizens about the law and its impact, and providing resources to arm people with facts they can use in fighting this law. Resources and activities devoted to this effort include:
Additionally, WEAC staff members have worked closely with the NEA on the development of its national strategy for dealing with the law.
“We understood the importance of the new ESEA from the beginning, so we did everything we could to learn more about it and put a system in place for explaining it to WEAC members and the rest of the state,” WEAC President Stan Johnson said. “And once we learned everything we could about the law, we understood the urgent need to change it for the sake of Wisconsin’s great schools. It is a one-size-fits-all law that focuses on the wrong priorities instead of helping educators provide children with individual attention based on their individual needs.”
Stoughton special education teacher and ESEA Cadre member Peg Walker said Wisconsin is unique for the ESEA resources it makes available to members.
“When I have talked to other school employees at the NEA Representative Assemblies, they have been amazed that not only do we have print information and a video, but a cadre of speakers available to inform members about the impact of ESEA in their classrooms,” Walker said. “Once again, Wisconsin is a leader.”
WEAC Director of Collective Bargaining and Research Mike McNett directed the WEAC ESEA work team and has overseen most of WEAC’s ESEA-related activities. In remarking upon the award given to “ESEA and You” this summer, McNett reiterated that the purpose of all of WEAC’s ESEA-related work is to make life better for WEAC members and the children attending Wisconsin’s public schools.
Posted September 30, 2004