Legislators Introduce Bill to Help Schools Unfairly Labeled by ESEA

A bill introduced in Congress Thursday (June 17, 2004) would allow thousands of schools that may have been unfairly punished under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – called the No Child Left Behind law by the Bush administration – to have their status re-evaluated by the U.S. Department of Education.

Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of California authored the No Child Left Behind Fairness Act of 2004, which would require the Department of Education to determine whether schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) during the 2002-03 school year based on its new rules and regulations.

To make AYP, a percentage of a school's students must perform at the proficiency level or above on a series of standardized tests. The required percentage increases each year, with the goal of every child testing proficient or better by the 2013-2014 school year.

The Department of Education has made four significant changes to ESEA since December 2003. Some of those changes ease standards for schools in determining AYP.

One change allows schools to develop alternative assessments for special education students. Another allows schools to average participation rates over a three-year period and mandates that students who are unable to take the test during the testing and make-up windows because of a unique, significant medical emergency do not count against the school’s participation rate, which is 95%.

Under the proposed legislation, these changes would be made retroactively when determining whether a school made AYP in 2002-03.

WEAC President Stan Johnson said without this bill, many Wisconsin schools may be unfairly and inaccurately labeled. "This law allows us to compare apples to apples in determining whether our schools are making progress," he said. "It is a small step toward improving this law.

"The ESEA is based on a one-size-fits-all approach and emphasizes punishment instead of providing the resources and support to address challenges," he said. "We should focus on what children really need: smaller classes, quality teaching, more parental involvement, and up-to-date books and materials. Every child deserves a great school. ESEA does not help to accomplish that."

NEA President Reg Weaver said using different standards for AYP makes it impossible to make meaningful comparisons, a situation that "leads to confusion and frustration for students and parents, and undermines the credibility of the whole system. The changes proposed by Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Miller represent a common sense and fair approach," he said. "NEA will continue to push for further changes – and resources for methods and practices that work – in order to make sure every child has what he or she needs to be successful."

Resource page on ESEA

Posted June 18, 2004