CSBA leaders welcome new flexibility in NCLB regulations 

Representatives from the California School Boards Association, who visited the nation’s capital in April advocating for the state’s public schoolchildren, said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings intends to grant states some flexibility to test special education students in ways that most accurately measure their academic performance.

CSBA’s Federal Issues Council and top association staff were invited to Spellings’ announcement on April 7, which came a day after CSBA officers and other FIC members met with top federal education officials, including Spellings’ Chief of Staff David Dunn and Assistant Education Secretary Ray Simon, to discuss concerns over implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Spellings said the federal government will raise the cap on the number of special education students who can be tested using alternative assessments from 1 percent of a school’s special education students to 3 percent of the special education population.

Under the old rules, 99 percent of all disabled students at every school are required to score at the “proficient” level on standards tests for their grade by 2014, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, or their schools will face federal sanctions.

CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin applauded Spellings’ willingness to listen to CSBA and a host of other school leaders who have been advocating for more flexibility to apply NCLB mandates in a manner that works best for students.

“We welcome the federal administration’s efforts to address some of the serious problems we have raised in connection with this law,” Plotkin said. “But we continue to believe that NCLB must acknowledge achievement standards for special education students that are laid out in the Individual Education Programs designed for each individual student as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.” Plotkin said that modifications to the special education testing provisions of NCLB do not address all of CSBA’s concerns.

“Allowing 3 percent of special education students to take alternate assessments is better than permitting only 1 percent to do so,” he said. “But the fact remains: the specific performance indicators spelled out in every special education student’s IEP are the best ways to measure how well these students are performing.”

Plotkin said he hopes CSBA can strengthen the association’s constructive relationship with federal officials. “I hope that Secretary Spellings will continue to listen to school leaders on the front lines in this sweeping campaign to raise student achievement across the country,” he said. “There is no question that we all want to help students perform at the highest levels possible. Sometimes we disagree on the best ways to do this.”