News Release

Educators Give Bush "Incomplete"

So-Called No Child Left Behind Law
Needs Fixing Before Expanding

Washington, D.C. - Policymakers should be focused on fixing and funding the so-called No Child Left Behind law. Instead, they are being called upon to compound the inefficiencies of the current law with additional bureaucratic testing requirements, said the National Education Association (NEA) President, Reg Weaver.

The President put forth a plan for expanding the so-called No Child Left Behind law to testing for three more grades, from third to eleventh instead of the already mandated third to eighth. He also announced a plan for testing high school students before they earn a diploma at a public high school.

The President's announced plan to expand the so-called No Child Left Behind law comes at an interesting time. Lately, teachers and parents find the current law's use of one-size-fits-all tests to determine whether a school is labeled as failing to be a major flaw that needs fixing.

"There are critical flaws in this law that both Republicans and Democrats have said need to be fixed," NEA President Reg Weaver said. More than 30 state legislatures - some with Republican majorities - have either passed or proposed state policies that call for changes in the law. "We should be talking about ways to create smaller class sizes, hire and retain high-quality teachers in the classroom and invest in up-to-date resources for all students. Not pile on yet another high-stakes test."

"The new plan would be redundant since about half of all states have exit exams already in place, and would invest precious education funds into yet another unnecessary test," Weaver said.

He pointed out that a similar situation was present with the proposal of the so-called No Child Left Behind two years ago. At that time about half of all states already had accountability systems in place. As a result, once the law was passed, it added an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy and created confusion for parents, teachers and school officials trying to navigate the difference between state and federal labeling of their schools.

"We need to be circumspect as we consider the new proposals presented by the President. When a prescription drug has negative side effects, the government forbids the sale of the drug until the company can make it safe for patients," Weaver said. "In that same vein, when there is an education law that doesn't work, we should hold off on expanding it until we can diagnose the negative effects on children and students, parents, teachers and education support professionals and develop a prescription that will bring a quality public education and great public schools to every child."

September 3, 2004

CONTACT:

Denise Cardinal, (202) 822-7239
Andy Linebaugh, (202) 822-7200

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.