From: "Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>
Date: Thu Mar 22, 2007 7:01:06 AM US/Pacific
To: <ndsgroup@yahoogroups.com>, "RScriticalteach"
<RScriticalteach@lists.execpc.com>, <care@yahoogroups.com>,
<ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>, "arn2-strategy"
<arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [ARN-state] Fw: [arn-l] NEA and ESEA
Reply-To: ARN-state@yahoogroups.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Sheridan" <learn@jps.net>
To: <ARN-l@interversity.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 1:34 AM
Subject: [arn-l] NEA and ESEA
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
**************************************************
Only the individual sender is responsible for the content of the
message, and the message does not necessarily reflect the position
or policy of the National Education Association or its affiliates.
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