NEA: How We Must Move Forward on ESEA/NCLB
By Tim Walker
This week, for the first time since 2001, a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is expected to hit the floor of the U.S. Congress. The House of Representatives will be debating and voting on the “Student Success Act” (H.R. 5) and the stakes for students across the nation couldn’t be higher. No one wants a repeat of the 2002 ESEA reauthorization commonly-known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB),which ushered in the era of high-stakes testing, micromanagement of schools at the federal level, and punitive measures for struggling schools. Now, finally, there is serious movement on Capitol Hill.The arduous legislative process may seem distant to many classroom teachers and education support professionals, but what is being negotiated this week stands to affect every student and public school educator in the United States. Which is why, says NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, Congress has to get this right.
“We are accountable for student success, and we must ensure that ESEA changes its current focus from punishing students, schools and educators to helping those most in need,” Van Roekel says. “In order for the law to work, we must empower educators so they can focus on what’s important—student learning and achievement.”
NEA strongly believes the foundation of a new ESEA has to be strengthening the federal government’s