Contact: Cory Wofford  (202) 822-7119

April 11, 2007

Local Educator to Offer
First-Hand Account of the Problems with NCLB

Flint educator chosen to participate in subcommittee hearing chaired by Rep. Kildee

WASHINGTON -- Steve Burroughs, an educator from Flint, Mich., will offer insight into the difficulties many teachers in Michigan and across the country face under the No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB is the controversial legislation signed by President Bush in 2001 that is underfunded by billions of dollars, heavily focused on one-size-fits-all testing and unfairly punishes many schools and students. The law is up for reauthorization this year.

Burroughs will be among the witnesses who will provide testimony at a field hearing organized by the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, and chaired by U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee (5th Congressional District) of Michigan. The hearing, "Local Perspectives on the No Child Left Behind Act", will be held April 12, 2007, beginning at 11:00 a.m. at the Sarvis Conference Center, 1231 East Kearsley Street in Flint, Michigan.

"My colleagues and I are not afraid of accountability. We simply do not see the current system as fair or effective," says Burroughs, president of the United Teachers of Flint, a local affiliate of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. "If the NCLB accountability system were applied to other professions, eventually lawyers would have to win every case and doctors would have to cure every patient."

NEA has recommended broad changes to the law that would, among other things, reduce class sizes, strengthen dropout prevention programs, infuse 21st century skills into schools, and recruit and retain qualified teachers by offering professional pay and development.

If Congress chooses to make minor adjustments to the law rather than sweeping changes, NEA has recommended several specific improvements. These include allowing the use of growth models, mandating multiple measures of assessment, developing a system that rewards successes and helps schools, extending the time newly arrived English-language learners have to master the language before being tested in English, using grade-level appropriate assessments for special education students and closing loopholes in the highly qualified teacher definition.

Steve Burroughs' written testimony is available online and more information about NEA's Positive Agenda for the ESEA Reauthorization is available here.

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators
and students preparing to become teachers.