August 23, 2007: Letter to Senators Mike Crapo and Blanche Lincoln

August 23, 2007

The Honorable Mike Crapo
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Blanche Lincoln
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Re: No Child Left Behind Enhancement Act, S. 1913

Dear Senator Crapo and Senator Lincoln:

The National School Boards Association (NSBA), representing over 95,000 local school board members across the nation, wishes to commend you for your commitment to improve the existing No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 by introducing the No Child Left Behind Enhancement Act, S. 1913.

We appreciate the fact that from our very early discussions when NSBA first unveiled its bill in 2005, you and your staffs have remained very much interested in preserving the goals of NCLB, while ensuring that the flaws in the current program would be addressed. We also acknowledge your efforts to communicate with your local school boards and with the Arkansas School Boards Association and the Idaho School Boards Association, respectively.

In reviewing S. 1913, we commend you for addressing many of the critical concerns facing local school boards.

Measuring AYP
NSBA is pleased that you have included provisions that would improve the basic Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measurement system by expanding the system to include measures of student achievement over a period of time such as a value-added accountability system, progress of students to the next higher level of achievement or the use of alternate methods for measuring AYP. Additionally, you have included a provision that would allow a fairer calculation of AYP for schools and school districts with students belonging to more than one demographic subgroup. These provisions would certainly improve the credibility of the law, and result in more accurate and fairer assessments of performance.

Students with Disabilities and Limited English Proficiency
We are also pleased that your S. 1913 recognizes the unique needs of students with disabilities and students with Limited English Proficiency while maintaining rigorous standards and strong school district accountability. Your specific provisions would 1) allow the use of alternate assessments for students with disabilities if so determined by the IEP team; and 2) increase the percentage of students whose performance may be included in the calculation of AYP. These provisions would offer local school districts options to accommodate the specific needs of individual students rather than force a one-size-fits-all system.

We also appreciate your specific provisions that recognize the needs of students who are limited in their English proficiency (LEP). Your provisions to permit the use of alternate assessments for some LEP students and provide greater flexibilities in measuring performance for some LEP students would strengthen the accountability for academic improvement while significantly reducing the number of schools inaccurately identified as “in need of improvement”.

Sanctions
Additionally, NSBA is pleased with your provisions that would improve the use of public school choice and supplemental services for students most in need. Your specific provisions to offer greater flexibility for the school district to determine when and which sanctions should be used, and to target the use of these sanctions to those students most in need will have a very positive impact on both student and school performance.

We are particularly pleased that you have included provisions that would ensure a greater role for local school districts in developing criteria for supplemental service providers, as well as procedures that would allow local school districts to have their concerns addressed regarding any performance problems with the supplemental service providers. As you are aware, there has been growing concern on the part of local school districts regarding the lack of success on the part of many service providers who are permitted to continue to be paid with taxpayer dollars with little accountability.

Highly Qualified Teachers
Finally, NSBA is pleased that you have included provisions that would allow special education teachers of multiple core academic subjects to be considered highly qualified if they hold a bachelor’s degree and have full state certification. These provisions would enable many local school districts, particularly in small and rural school districts, to retain these highly experienced and dedicated teachers without adversely impacting the school’s status.

Thank you for the leadership you have taken and for the opportunity to formally support your bill. Any questions you or your staffs have regarding NCLB may be directed to Reginald M. Felton, Director of Federal Relations, at 703-838-6782, or by e-mail, rfelton@nsba.org.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Resnick
Associate Executive Director