Speaker Pelosi Promises Comprehensive NCLB Overhaul

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

   U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER PLEDGES TO OVERHAUL NO CHILD LAW
Stateline.org -- August 9, 2007
by Eric Kelderman 	

Boston U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) today (Aug. 8) told 
state legislators Congress would seek a major overhaul of the No Child 
Left Behind Act, which states have protested as an unfunded mandate and 
unprecedented federal intrusion into schools.

"So different will this bill be from the original No Child Left Behind, 
that we're thinking of changing it's name," Pelosi told lawmakers 
gathered for the annual meeting of the National Conference of State 
Legislatures (NCSL).

The 2001 federal law, which has riled some state lawmakers and educators 
to the point of rebellion, mandates annual testing in reading and math 
for grades 3-8 and once in high school with the goal of making all 
students proficient in the subjects by 2013-14. Schools that fail to 
make annual progress face a variety of penalties, from being forced to 
pay for tutoring to being taken over by the state.

Pelosi said Congress would work to address state lawmakers' concerns 
that No Child is too rigid for states and provides little money to meet 
its goals.

“I believe you will be pleased with the legislation that is gathering 
strong bipartisan support. The bill will be fair and flexible, 
responding to legitimate concerns by you and others while fulfilling our 
promise to improve student performance, increase school accountability 
and provide students with the resources they need to learn the skills 
that will be crucial to their future success," she said.

David Shreve, an education analyst with NCSL, said states are mostly 
interested in being able to tailor their testing systems to meet their 
own needs, including allowing schools to use more than one kind of test 
to determine proficiency.

Utah Rep. Kory Holdaway (R), a special education teacher, said that 
extra money from Congress would not be useful unless the law is changed 
to meet states' needs. "You could increase the money to the full amount 
{authorized} and still have the same problems," he said.

Pelosi, the first woman elected speaker of the U.S. House of 
Representatives, also touted Congress' efforts expanding the State 
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for low-income children and 
money to replace National Guard equipment and protect state authority 
over those soldiers.

States share the costs of the $5 billion-a-year SCHIP program with the 
federal government and are counting on more federal dollars.

“Bringing health insurance to America’s children is a moral imperative,” 
Pesloi said. But she noted that significant differences must be ironed 
out between a U.S. House bill for SCHIP which costs $50 billion more 
over five years and the Senate's bill for $35 billion more.

President Bush, who has panned the plans as “Congress’ attempt to 
federalize medicine,” is holding out for an increase of only $5 billion 
and has threatened to veto either congressional version of the bill.

Pelosi received a standing ovation for praising America’s troops serving 
in Iraq or Afghanistan, and said the war has presented a special 
challenge for states, since 80 percent of the National Guard and 
reservists have been deployed to the Middle East since 2001.

On top of that, the National Guard is currently equipped with only 40 
percent of its authorized equipment and many stateside units may not be 
able to fully respond to a domestic emergency, Pelosi said

The federal fiscal year 2008 defense bill, passed last week, provides $1 
billion specifically to address equipment shortfalls in the National 
Guard and reserves both for overseas and domestic needs, Pelosi said.

NCSL President Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D) of Texas said the money for 
the National Guard was good news for states.

"We are encouraged that the speaker recognized the authority of our 
governors and the states to first and foremost make sure that we have 
the equipment and the numbers to respond to the natural disasters," she 
said.

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=230977