News Release

Organizations Urge Major
Changes for 'No Child Left Behind'

Educators, advocates discuss how
Congress can refocus federal law on positive
measures and solutions for nation’s schoolchildren

Washington, D.C. – The "No Child Left Behind" Act’s goals of strong academic progress for all children and closing the achievement gap are laudable. But Congress must make substantial changes in the law to meet those goals, more than 20 national education, civil rights, disability, children’s and citizens' groups said in a joint statement today. The groups [for the current list, please see the joint statement] are aligned to refocus the federal law on positive measurements and solutions.

Today's joint statement to Congress was followed by a media conference call. Representatives from the NAACP, Children’s Defense Fund as well as educators and children's advocates detailed specific principles for reforms that lawmakers should adopt next year and that cannot wait until the current law expires in 2007.

"We have a firm commitment here both to preserving a strong accountability system and to ensuring a strong federal role in improving student achievement," said Jill Morningstar, Co-Director of Education and Youth Development for the Children’s Defense Fund.

"We must shift the focus from imposing sanctions toward building the capacity of schools to meet the needs of all children," said Monty Neil, executive director of FairTest: The National Center for Fair & Open Testing. "This will include increased training for educators, making schools more engaging for students, and strengthening ties among families and communities and their schools."

The statement  includes recommendations that Congress change the law to:

• Ensure a more comprehensive picture of school and student performance by shifting from an overwhelming reliance on standardized tests to the use of other student achievement measures in addition to testing.
• Give states and local governments the funding and support they need to meet the objectives of the law without reducing expenditures for other education programs.
• Provide resources that will strengthen the knowledge and skills of school and district staff, and supporting programs that help parents and communities actively participate in their children’s education.
• Replace sanctions that neither have a consistent record of success nor allow schools to continue successful reform efforts.

"In order for all children to meet the standards in the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal government must take the lead, by example, on efforts to address funding disparities at the state and local level," said John Jackson, national director of education for the NAACP.

October 21, 2004

Contact:

NEA Media Relations , National Education Association, 202-822-7200
Gary Ratner, Citizens for Effective Schools, 301-469-8000
Sabrina Williams, Advancement Project, 202-728-9557
Avram Goldstein, Children’s Defense Fund, 202-662-3615

###

The undersigned of the joint statement will work for the adoption of these recommendations as central structural changes needed to NCLB:

Advancement Project
American Association of School Administrators
American Association of School Librarians (AASL), div. of American Library Association (ALA)
American Association of University Women
American Baptist Women's Ministries
American Counseling Association
American Dance Therapy Association
American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
American Humanist Association
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Americans for the Arts
Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)
ASPIRA
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
Association of Education Publishers
Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO)
Big Picture Company
Center for Community Change
Center for Expansion of Language and Thinking
Center for Parent Leadership
Children's Defense Fund
Church Women United
Citizens for Effective Schools
Coalition for Community Schools
Coalition of Essential Schools
Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism
Communities for Quality Education
Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders
Council for Exceptional Children
Council for Hispanic Ministries of the United Church of Christ
Council for Learning Disabilities
Council of Administrators of Special Education, Inc.
Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform
Disciples Home Missions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Disciples Justice Action Network (Disciples of Christ)
Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children (DLD/CEC)
Education Action!
Every Child Matters
FairTest: The National Center for Fair & Open Testing
Forum for Education and Democracy
Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GPAC)
Hmong National Development
Indigenous Women's Network
Institute for Language and Education Policy
International Reading Association
International Technology Education Association
Japanese American Citizens League
Learning Disabilities Association of America
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic Justice of the United Church of Christ
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF)
National Alliance of Black School Educators
National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education (NAAPAE)
National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE)
National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian
and Vietnamese Americans (NAFEA)
National Association for the Education of African American Children with Learning Disabilities
National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS)
National Association of Pupil Services Administrators
National Association of School Psychologists
National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
National Association of Social Workers
National Baptist Convention, USA (NBCUSA)
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
National Coalition of ESEA Title I Parents
National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE)
National Conference of Black Mayors
National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP)
National Council for the Social Studies
National Council of Churches
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Teachers of English
National Education Association
National Federation of Filipino American Associations
National Indian Education Association
National Indian School Board Association
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Mental Health Association
National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA
National Pacific Islander Educator Network
National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
National Reading Conference
National Rural Education Association
National School Boards Association
National School Supply and Equipment Association
National Superintendents Roundtable
National Urban League
Native Hawaiian Education Association
Network of Spiritual Progressives
Organization of Chinese Americans
People for the American Way
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Protestants for the Common Good
Public Education Network (PEN)
Rural School and Community Trust
Service Employees International Union
School Social Work Association of America
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Social Action Committee of the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Stand for Children
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
The Children's Aid Society
The Episcopal Church
United Black Christians of the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
USAction
Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
Women of Reform Judaism

(List of signers updated March 27, 2007)

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.