Californians take message to Washington: ‘Fix NCLB’

More than 70 Californians—a record number—gathered with their counterparts from local education governance teams around the country at the National School Boards Association’s annual Federal Relations Network Conference in Washington, D.C., Jan. 28-30.

The event drew nearly 1,000 people to the nation’s capital to hear from political, education and government leaders and to lobby the 110th Congress. The conference also coincided with the Bush administration’s push for congressional reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act five years after its initial passage.

“I think the urgency of the reauthorization of NCLB lent a different intensity” to FRN’s 34th annual conference, said CSBA President Kathy Kinley, who led the California delegation. CSBA’s own Fix NCLB campaign is closely coordinated with NSBA’s push for crucial changes and adequate funding for the legislation that forms the core of federal education policy.

Kennedy, Spellings speak

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings were among the speakers who addressed the FRN conferees. Kinley, however, said Kennedy—a coauthor of NCLB in 2001—indicated “a serious attempt will be made” to debate and vote on the need for changes in the law’s policy and funding.

“Senator Kennedy’s carefully worded remarks gave us some reason for optimism,” said CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin. “He clearly indicated that he understood what some of the problems were with the law.”

A central problem is the conflict between California’s Academic Performance Index and the federal government’s measurement of “adequate yearly progress.” The federal system establishes rigid measurements based on each state’s own definition of student proficiency. California’s definition, among the most rigorous in the nation, measures school- and district-level progress in raising all students’ performance. The API’s dynamic, growth-based metric predates the federal government’s more static requirements.

“Kennedy signaled his willingness to consider sensible and practical changes to NCLB, such as adoption of a growth model,” Plotkin said. “He also made a strong statement in support of increased funding. On the other hand, Secretary Spellings, while opening the door a bit to indicate some willingness to discuss changes to NCLB, spent most of her time talking about expansion of the law.”

As outlined by Spellings, the Bush administration’s plan for NCLB “promises some flexibility on growth, which of course we would welcome,” CSBA President Kinley confirmed. However, she added, Spelling’s agenda “certainly goes in directions that we were not expecting.” Among other things, the administration’s plans include a renewed call for vouchers that could drain funding from public schools and a new focus on four-year graduation rates for high schools.

‘Day on the Hill’

The FRN conference concluded with “A Day on the Hill,” when participants brought their calls for changes in education law to their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill.

“We were able to have a huge impact” because of the record number of Californians at the conference, Plotkin said. “We had all of these local board members who were able to meet with members of Congress.”

Judy Hannemann, a member of the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District in Santa Clara County, participated in the lobbying effort. Afterward, she recounted one meeting in particular when she helped a congressman understand the impact that actions in Washington have at the local level. The official had rebuffed her plea for a particular program, saying the government didn’t have the money.

“Well, what do you think school boards do all the time?” Hannemann said she retorted. “Do you think we just ‘make’ money? If we want to do something, we have to figure out where we can cut” to pay for the new project.

“Going to FRN is such a great experience. You get to hear from so many really important people,” said Hannemann, who also represents Region 20 on CSBA’s Board of Directors. She also enjoyed meeting with her counterparts from around the country.

“You find out that someone from Georgia is having the same problems we’re having,” she said. “It’s really very enlightening. From small districts and big districts, we’re all affected by what they do” in Washington.

Grassroots pressure needed

Hannemann said she decided to attend FRN in part because CSBA’s president had made it such a high priority. Kinley had called for a constituent of each of California’s 55 congressional districts  to make the trip and personally explain the urgency for change in federal education policy. She said the unprecedented response is gratifying—but she also noted that much more remains to be done to influence national policy, and much of it can be done at home, in the district offices of each one of those 55 congressional representatives and the state’s two U.S. senators.

“FRN definitely laid the groundwork,” Kinley said. “It is the beginning of our advocacy for this Congress, but we are going to need follow-up in our district offices.”

A member of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District in San Bernardino County, Kinley will continue to lobby locally and in the nation’s capital. She’ll head back there with CSBA’s Federal Issues Council March 11-14.