CSBA and educators agree on need for NCLB reform 

CSBA President Luan B. Rivera and President-elect Dr. Kathy Kinley joined dozens of other members of the education community at public hearings across the state Oct. 16-18 to testify about the need to reform the No Child Left Behind Act so that it helps, rather than hurts, the nation’s children.

The NCLB hearings were called by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell to collect comments from school board members, teachers, administrators and parents about unintended consequences of the sweeping federal mandate that was intended to boost student achievement nationally.

“I believe it is vital that California, to the extent possible, speak with one voice as we begin conversations in Washington, D.C., about changes to the law,” O’Connell said.

Although NCLB has succeeded in focusing attention on achievement disparities between different groups of students, critics argue the law imposes a long list of expensive and unworkable federal mandates on local districts.

Kinley and Rivera provided local examples of the ways that NCLB requirements are making it harder for schools to do their jobs.

Kinley testified about the need to provide more flexibility in NCLB regulations concerning English language learners and accountability at hearings in Glendale and Santa Clara, and Rivera described problems with NCLB’s “highly qualified” teacher requirements at the Fresno hearing.

Kinley, a former middle school principal with extensive experience educating English language learners, testified that many California districts are unfairly punished because the state tests ELL students in English whether or not they are proficient in their new language.

Kinley also noted that it’s unrealistic to require, as NCLB does, that every student in California (and the nation) must test “proficient” in core academic subjects by 2014. “At the federal level,” she said, “education has been singled out as the only social/governmental program required to have a 100 percent success rate. Anything short of perfection will be met with interventions and sanctions.”

Rivera, also a former teacher, pointed out that there are not enough teachers in fields like special education, science and math who can meet NCLB’s rigid teacher qualification requirements.

Rivera described the dilemma faced by small rural schools like Foothill Middle School in Fresno County’s Sierra Unified School District. Rivera said Foothills offers  “block classes” for incoming sixth-graders that combine language arts and social science taught by one teacher. “It’s good for students because it gives them extended time with one teacher and helps them adjust to middle school,” Rivera said. But it’s difficult to find teachers who are “highly qualified” (as defined by NCLB requirements) in both subjects.

O’Connell said the hearings show that NCLB is not working as intended. “California must be a leader in using the congressional reauthorization process to make the law work better for students.”