Chairman Alexander Announces Plan to Fix No Child Left Behind
RELEASES STAFF DISCUSSION DRAFT AND ANNOUNCES COMMITTEE HEARING ON TESTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Posted on January 14, 2015
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“During the last six years, this committee has held 24 hearings and reported two bills to the Senate floor to fix the law’s problems. We should be able to finish our work within the first few weeks of 2015 so the full Senate can act." –Lamar Alexander
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 13 –U.S. Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced on the Senate floor his plans to fix the No Child Left Behind law, wrapping up six years of committee work and sending a bill to the Senate floor within the first few weeks of 2015. [Click HERE for video of Alexander’s full remarks today.]
“No Child Left Behind has become unworkable—and fixing this law, which expired over seven years ago, will be the first item on the agenda for the Senate education committee,” Alexander said. “I look forward to input from all sides on this proposal as we move forward with a bipartisan process that will keep the best portions of the law, while restoring responsibility to states and local communities and ensuring that all 50 million students in our nation’s 100,000 public schools can succeed.”
Alexander also released a staff discussion draft of his bill to fix the problems with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to begin discussion with his Senate colleagues, and also to solicit public feedback on the proposed draft. [Click HERE to access the discussion draft.]
Alexander announced the committee’s first hearing this year on No Child Left Behind, and said he would hold additional hearings after conferring with Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) He also announced beginning this week bipartisan meetings in the Senate education committee to discuss the chairman’s discussion draft, consider changes and improvements, identify areas of agreement, and discuss options to proceed.
Chairman Alexander asked for input from the public on his staff discussion draft by Monday, February 2 at:FixingNCLB@help.senate.gov. Comments will be shared with all members of the Senate HELP Committee.
The first hearing will be scheduled as follows:
- Wednesday, January 21 – “Fixing No Child Left Behind: Testing and Accountability”
NPE Calls for Congressional Hearings – PRESS RELEASE
Please join us for the Network for Public Education 2015 Conference in Chicago from April 24th – 26th – 2015! Click HERE to get the EARLY BIRD Registration rates now! These low rates will last for the month of January.
The Network for Public Education’s 2015 Conference will be the place to be this spring, in the historic city of Chicago, home of the Chicago Teachers Union. The theme of the conference is:
“Public Education: Our Kids, Our Schools, Our Communities.”
The event is being held at the Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago. Here is the link for special hotel registration rates. Here are some of the event details.
There will be a welcoming social event 7 pm Friday night, at or near the Drake Hotel — details coming soon.
Featured speakers will be:
- Jitu Brown, National Director – Journey for Justice, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Network for Public Education Board of Directors
- Tanaisa Brown, High School Senior, with the Newark Student Union
- Yong Zhao, Author, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?“
- Diane Ravitch in conversation with
- Lily Eskelsen Garcia, NEA President and
- Randi Weingarten, AFT President
- Karen Lewis, President, Chicago Teachers Union
There will be a special optional luncheon on Saturday that will feature a conversation between Edushyster and surprise guests.
There will be dozens of workshops and panels offered by activists from coast to coast. Proposals for these sessions are being solicited by the NPE, and can be submitted HERE until the Jan. 20 deadline.
The organizers worked to make the conference as affordable as possible. Please be aware that the room reservations and food costs offset the use of the hotel space. This conference is priced as cheaply as possible so that the maximum number of people can attend. We are hoping to raise money to provide a limited amount of scholarships. HERE is the link for the scholarship application.
If you would like to make a donation to allow others to attend who otherwise could not afford participating, please go HERE and indicate that this is for the “NPE Conference Scholarship Fund”
NPE Calls for Congressional Hearings – PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Press Conference to be held in the Thompson Conference Center at 3:30 pm, Sunday, March 2.
AUSTIN, TX The Network for Public Education (NPE) closed out its first National Conference here with a call for Congressional hearings to investigate the over-emphasis, misapplication, costs, and poor implementation of high-stakes standardized testing in the nation’s K-12 public schools.
In a Closing Keynote address to some 500 attendees, education historian and NYU professor Diane Ravitch, an NPE founder and Board President, accused current education policies mandated by the federal government, such as President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top, of making high-stakes standardized testing “the purpose of education, rather than a measure of education.”
The call for Congressional hearings – addressed to Senators Lamar Alexander and Tom Harkin of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, and Representatives John Kline and George Miller of the House Education and Workforce Committee – states that high-stakes testing in public schools has led to multiple unintended consequences that warrant federal scrutiny. NPE asks Congressional leaders to pursue eleven potential inquiries, including, “Do the tests promote skills our children and our economy need?” and “Are tests being given to children who are too young?”
“We have learned some valuable lessons about the unintended costs of test-driven reform over the past decade. Unfortunately, many of our nation’s policies do not reflect this,” stated NPE Executive Director Robin Hiller. “We need Congress to investigate and take steps to correct the systematic overuse of testing in our schools.”
“Our system is being rendered less intelligent by the belief that ‘rigor’ equates to ever more difficult tests,” warned NPE Treasurer Anthony Cody. “True intelligence in the 21st century depends on creativity and problem-solving, and this cannot be packaged into a test. We need to invest in classrooms, in making sure teachers have the small class sizes, resources, and support they need to succeed. We need to stop wasting time and money in the pursuit of test scores.”
About NPE:
The Network for Public Education is an advocacy group whose goal is to fight to protect, preserve and strengthen our public school system, an essential institution in a democratic society. We are many. There is strength in our numbers. Together we will save our schools.
