NEA and ESEA

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1964 was one of the major domestic
accomplishments of Lyndon Johnson's presidency, the last unabashedly liberal
administration the U.S. has known. In the two generations since its initial
passage, the ESEA has been the major source of federal aid to education,
including Title I (aid to schools serving low-income students), Title II (class
size reduction and professional development), migrant education and Title IX
(gender equity).

When ESEA was created, public education was viewed as a critical part of the
solution to major social ills. When George Bush became president, his staff and
advisers regarded public education as a major cause of the problems it is
supposed to address, and so the most recent reauthorization of ESEA , now called
"No Child Left Behind," created a set of sanctions for so-called failing schools.

In the next reauthorization of ESEA, the National Education Association seeks to
restore the law to its role of assisting and improving local schools. On March
21, 2007, NEA told Congress to use more than test scores to measure student
learning and school performance. NEA's agenda includes:

Ø Using multiple measures of student learning and school effectiveness instead of
the current one-day snapshot based solely on standardized tests.

Ø Rewarding progress over time to improve student achievement at all levels.

Ø Recognizing individual needs of students including English learners and those
in special education.


NEA also calls for

Ø Restoring the federal class size reduction program.

Ø Providing financial incentives to teachers who teach in hard-to-staff schools.

Ø Providing flexibility for teachers of multiple subjects, including special
education and rural educators.



NEA WOULD OPPOSE AN ESEA REAUTHORIZATION BILL IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING
NON-STARTERS WERE INCLUDED:


1.     Additional mandated federal testing requirements

2.      Mandated federal requirements for ?effective teachers? or any new
mandates for highly qualified definition, including evaluations directly tied to
student performance or growth model results

3.      Any mandated merit pay/pay-for-performance requirements, including those
directly tied to student performance or growth model results.

4.      Private school vouchers

5.     Undermining of collective bargaining



To view NEA?s comprehensive Positive Agenda for ESEA Reauthorization, go to:

http://www.nea.org/lac/esea/images/posagenda.pdf


George Sheridan

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