Vantage Point: Local trustees join national lobbying effort 

On Jan. 28-30, CSBA went to Washington. Seventy-one local school board members from California attended the National School Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network to pursue phase 2 of our Fix NCLB campaign. This was a record number of attendees. I want to personally thank all who took part and the local boards that supported their participation. Since California has 6.3 million students affected by the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as the nation’s largest congressional delegation—including George Miller, D-Concord, chair of the powerful House Education and Labor Committee, and ranking minority member Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita—it was crucial that our voices be heard. It was also important that the congressional staffers who work with legislation in Washington hear directly from us on how our schools are affected.

We presented a list of recommendations for the reauthorization of NCLB on behalf of the entire Education Coalition in California, including CSBA and the Association of California School Administrators, California Association of School Business Officials, California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, California Federation of Teachers, California State Employees Association, state PTA, California Teachers Association and Service Employees International Union.

Our recommendations include:

• revising the federal government’s measurement of “adequate yearly progress” to include growth and additional measurements of student achievement
• having the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act take precedence when there are conflicts with NCLB
• providing reliable assessments to gauge English proficiency and content knowledge
• allowing teachers in special education, career and technical education, and alternative education, as well as middle school teachers who are fully certified by their states, to be considered highly qualified teachers under NCLB

California’s local board members at FRN presented data from their districts showing dramatic shortfalls from what had been promised in both IDEA and Title 1 funding. They encouraged more funding—separate from K-12 budgets—and availability of preschool and Head Start programs. They urged reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which is vital to the funding of many of our rural districts in California. And they opposed any effort to eliminate reimbursement for school-based administration and transportation costs under Medicaid.

Please become familiar with our Fix NCLB recommendations and meet with your congressional representatives in their district offices. Invite your members of Congress to your schools that have been placed in Program Improvement status under NCLB strictures despite making tremendous progress in academic success; show them that we are committed to improving student achievement but need more flexibility and resources before sanctions are imposed.

Public schools need public support. It’s a reciprocal arrangement: Just as we need the support of our elected representatives, those representatives need our support in order to do their jobs.