Sue Conway and Dana Ragle
California educators have supported the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since its inception in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it as part of the War on Poverty. CTA supports improving student achievement, closing achievement gaps and accountability, but when the law was reauthorized in 2002, and was named the No Child Left Behind Act by President Bush, it became a system of sanctions rather than assistance to public schools, students and teachers.
The No Child Left Behind Act hurts our students, teachers and schools. Its failed one-size-fits-all approach to education ignores the individual needs of our students. Parents and teachers know all children do not learn in the same way or at the same pace.
NCLB grades student and school success based on a snapshot of mandated, standardized tests each given on a single day. The focus on testing forces teachers to teach to the test and has decimated programs like art, music, social studies and physical education.
NCLB sets up schools to fail. This year NCLB labeled one out of every four California public schools as failing. Instead of punishing schools, we need a system that provides assistance and resources to help all students and schools succeed.
NCLB has not improved student learning. According to the Harvard Civil Rights Project, NCLB did not have a significant impact on improving reading and math achievement scores and it has not helped narrow achievement gaps. The research shows the law has actually shortchanged schools that serve predominantly disadvantaged, minority students with an over reliance on sanctions rather than assistance.
The President and Congress have broken their promise to fully fund the law, making NCLB a federally mandated burden on local school districts. The shortfall in promised federal funding now exceeds $56 billion.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is again up for reauthorization. The proposal by California Congressman George Miller and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does nothing to improve the law. California teachers are calling on Congress to vote NO on the Miller/Pelosi NCLB reauthorization plan.
The Miller/Pelosi reauthorization bill continues to measure student and school success based on standardized test scores and fails to include multiple measures like attendance rates, graduation rates, a rigorous curriculum, and the number of students participating in honors or advanced placement courses.
Test scores don’t fairly measure student achievement and cannot accurately evaluate and pay teachers.
Paying teachers based on student test scores will result in more teaching to the test and will end up driving teachers away from lower-performing schools – the very schools that need help the most.
Research shows that merit pay schemes tied to student test scores have not improved student achievement and have been abandoned in many states where they were tried, because they were not working.
We need our members to take action.
You can make a difference if you:
Educate your community: Talk to your friends and neighbors Explain how NCLB currently is affecting your classroom and how merit pay would only hurt students that much more.
Refer to the ACTION NEEDED section on page 3 and also:
Reach out to Sacramento: Call your Assemblyperson and Senator. Get them to commit to fighting the current Miller/Pelosi proposal. (And while you have them on the phone, ask what legislation they are supporting to strengthen education in California).
Reach out to Washington D.C.: Call your local Congressperson and let him or her know that you do not want the current Miller/Pelosi proposal to become law.