No Child Left Behind Revision Proposals Hurt Minorities, Lawmakers Say

WASHINGTON — Minority lawmakers say House and Senate plans to rewrite the No Child Left Behind education law fail to protect minority children, those with disabilities and children learning English.

The black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American congressional caucuses insisted in a letter that they want a strong federal role in ensuring all students meet targets for reading and math. They also want goals for graduation rates spelled out in the law and are seeking assurances that English learners will get a quality education.

They say they oppose changes that would diminish equal access to education for all students. The letter, sent to lawmakers on education committees, was dated Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press.

The 2002 education law required annual reading and math testing and sanctions for schools that don't meet requirements. Critics say it is too rigid and led to "teaching to the test."

A bipartisan Senate bill gives greater control to states and directs federal efforts toward improving the bottom 5 percent of schools. But civil and disability rights groups have opposed it, and many Republicans say it leaves too much control with the federal government. A House committee is updating the law in parts but has not considered some of the law's more contentious issues.

In September, President Barack Obama said he would give waivers to states that met certain requirements to get around some of the law's unpopular requirements.

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Kimberly Hefling can be followed at http://twitter.com/khefling

Comments

[SkeeBee]

12:29 AM on 11/16/2011

I really find it hard to believe that a privileged, knowledge averse, good ol' white bread fella would craft a law that guts education and disenfranchises minorities and the non-elites.

go figger!

[mlaiuppa]

01:20 AM on 11/14/2011

But will every school get a certified teacher librarian?

Sign the petition at whitehouse dot gov. Go to the petitions and look under education. There are only 10. Sign the one to include librarians under the ESEA reauthorization.

[Get Real247]

01:13 PM on 11/13/2011

Nobody really knows. Reform might actually work. The students will try harder and they will
asked question to their PARENTS. The three W. What, when, why.

[lhugle]

10:23 AM on 11/13/2011

It's sad that so little attention is actually paid to the results of 10 years of this sort of thinking. NCLB and the school shaming movement have actually widened the gap between rich and poor schools. If disadvantaged populations actually looked at the results, they might realize what they're pushing for is against their own children's interests. See http://nogginstrain.blogspot.com/2011/10/school-report-cards-widen-gap-between.html

[hjo4]

08:13 AM on 11/13/2011

Make all the laws you want but if parents are not involved and attentive in their children education,more than likely they will fail in school. There are many reasons why some children fail and some of those reason have to do with economics and social issues in students lives. Those issues cannot be solved by teachers. It's wrong to punish States or teachers for students failing,when that lies within the parents control.

[acumenguy]

07:14 PM on 11/13/2011

There it is.

[Eric Mann]

10:20 PM on 11/12/2011

If they want these requirements, are they willing to have sanctions imposed on parents of children who do not achieve them as well as the schools they attend?

[J R M]

06:51 PM on 11/12/2011

Setting goals for graduation rates is equivalent to forcing lower graduation standards - and graduation standards are already embarrassingly low. Educational attainment of their children is not a focus of far too many American parents. My children go to school in the Issaquah school district in Washington, which is very very good. Participation in the advanced school activities (IB classes, Running Start planning, Math and Science Olympiad, etc) is highly biased toward the children of educated immigrants. Children whose parentage is either mixed or pure immigrant are represented beyond their numbers in these advanced programs.

My children have friends from Chinese, Indian, and Eastern European backgrounds. The parents of these kids do not tolerate their children slacking off on their studies. Neither do I. Get your school work done, and done well before engaging in other activities. And by the way, when given a choice, you must take the more academically demanding one. My daughter, who is in 10th grade is studying 4 to 6+ hours a day. The kids are working with their mother to learn Ukrainian.

We have 1 TV in the house, in the family room and a netflix 1 disc subscription. My son watches perhaps 2 movies a week. If he wants to watch my wife's Russian language news programs, that doesn't count against his TV time - he might pick up some language. We ration his game and computer screen time. Beyond that, he can play outside or read.

[El Chingaso]

03:46 PM on 11/12/2011

The idiocy of lawmakers and the public school establishment -- not to mention parents -- is overwhelming for those of who pay increasing taxes each year for all of this foolishness. It's like a Saturday Night Live spoof...yet, it's glaring reality with a very high price tag.

[rst2536]

01:15 PM on 11/12/2011

EDUCATION’S CATCH-22

The teacher was so busy testing
She’d very little time to teach;
And so was charged when manifesting
Her indignation with a screech.
Before the Board of Education
She let loose with her indignation
And claimed with testing paramount
She couldn’t teach the kids to count,
Do reading, writing, history, science.
Just what was she supposed to do
When taking tests was all they knew?
The Board of Ed said noncompliance
With policies that they desired
Left them no choice. The teacher’s fired.

Please see more at http://poemsonaffairsofstate.blogspot.com/

[voyager48]

09:26 AM on 11/12/2011

I really don't know why we still have NCLB.

The teachers did not want it, They don't feel it works and it has been shown not to work! yet we just keep on throwing money at it.

Note to teachers union - grow a backbone and do something useful for once

[sidnee]

01:57 PM on 11/12/2011

If you don't think the teacher unions haven't made it clear what they think---you are sadly wrong. The problem is--we werne't asked to join the conversation---and still aren't. Remember, teachers are greedy people, who only work until 3pm and have extended vacation. Why would the politicins care what we think? THe point of NCLB--is to discredit public education--and give for profit organizations the chance to get their hands on public money. Pure and sipmle in my opinion.

[ddrum14707]

09:21 AM on 11/13/2011

You are so right.

[voyager48]

12:57 PM on 11/13/2011

Then the bottom line is that the unions are on a different agenda than their members. If they were not, something could have and would have been done!

[AnimalLover6]

07:12 PM on 11/11/2011

Perhaps parents--including minority parents--should take some responsibility for their children's lack of success in school, instead of expecting somebody else to raise and discipline their children. Are the parents supervising homework? Do they implement rules? Do they engage with their children, positively, on a daily basis? Do they provide good role models? If the parents are immigrants, are they learning English? As a teacher, I am sick and tired of parents expecting us to perform miracles when the parents themselves can't be bothered to parent.

Just a thought.

[nasknit]

02:23 AM on 11/12/2011

F&F!

[voyager48]

09:21 AM on 11/12/2011

F&F2

[El Chingaso]

05:22 PM on 11/11/2011

American public schools have such low-brow academic standards. If one can't handle it...they've got some serious problems beyond the schoolhouse.

[Preesi UGess]

04:58 PM on 11/11/2011

GET RID OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND! IT IS RUINING OUR SCHOOLS

[eceresa]

04:33 PM on 11/11/2011

So, taking over their schools and making things worse with harebrained mandates that don't work is better? Because that's what NCLB requires.

[Tim Springer]

04:47 PM on 11/11/2011

Agreed.

[changing]

09:30 AM on 11/14/2011

Well, the minority lawmakers need to talk to minority teachers or any teachers for that matter. Total disconnect from reality. Get rid of NCLB, RITT, and Arne Duncan and and incompetent blowhards like the legislators redoing ESEA and maybe education stands a chance.