By Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), ranking Republican member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Every American has a vested interest in the education of our nation’s children.
The future success of the United States rests on their shoulders and together we should work to ensure that they are given the opportunity to succeed.
For over four decades the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has provided support to our nation’s public schools. It has helped move public education in a positive direction on the ladder of school reform. However, we are far from the top of that ladder where all children graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in college and the workforce.
I believe that to continue up the ladder of school reform, we need to retain and build on many of the current policies and practices embodied in ESEA.
Valuable lessons have been learned. We cannot afford to abandon current practices and start over—our children and schools deserve better than that. Instead, we need to roll up our sleeves and find solutions, such as allowing for growth models to measure student academic achievement.
One of the best changes the last reauthorization made was to shine the light on all children by requiring schools to be held accountable for the academic achievement of every child.
Students with disabilities and those who are limited in their English proficiency are no longer in the shadows and overlooked. We must also support the adults in schools—especially our teachers—with the information, best practices, and research they need to educate every child in their classrooms.
Additionally, it should not surprise anyone that I am going to pay very close attention to how federal policies impact rural schools. The challenges that rural schools face are often unique and call for unique solutions. Wyoming still has one room school houses with a single teacher educating five students in four different grades.
That teacher needs a different set of tools and resources than the teacher in the Bronx with a much larger class. Federal policy needs to be flexible enough for states to deal with the diverse nature and setting of their schools.
Finally, the reauthorization of ESEA must be done in a true bipartisan way. We know what works and what needs work—so that is where we ought to start. By having everyone at the table we can achieve the best policy our nation’s students, teachers, principals and administrators deserve.
The goal of having all children graduate high school with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in college and the workforce is not a partisan issue. Neither is the future of our children and the education they all deserve to receive.
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Before the administration moves forward to re-authorize ESEA, more commonly referred to as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), it would be wise if it took time to reflect upon why the law is now so widely scorned. Opposition to NCLB is widespread among large numbers of liberals and conservatives, as well many educators throughout the country. Without the benefit of a careful assessment, the administration runs the risk of turning education into an issue that generates opposition and disaffection, not just from its conservative critics, but also from important members of its base.
Senator Enzi is one of the few members of Congress that I have heard specifically concerned with rural schools. The high publicity of inner city poverty has diverted attention from the problems facing rural schools. They suffer from inadequate facilities, under qualified teachers, and second and third generation poverty just like urban schools. I most concerned however at the lack of attention paid to schools in the middle socioeconomic class. Schools of poverty have become eligible for numerous grants and federal and state assistance in order to meet mandated goals, and well they should. Their teachers also get incentives such as school loan reduction to offset in low pay. Schools that are supported by high socioeconomic conditions have access to financial resources in their communities to help meet mandated goals. The middle class school however is left in the cold. They do not qualify for many of the grants,and federal and state assistance. They’re teachers to not qualify for loan reduction. So in many cases good teachers move on. The middle class school is becoming a victim of school improvement legislation.
“The goal of having all children graduate high school with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in college and the workforce is not a partisan issue.” I think this attitude that everyone should attend college is part of the problem. When vocational education went bye-bye that’s when we began to see many students fall through the cracks in my opinion. I think core curriculum should be emphasized but leave more room for arts and vocational studies as well. Not everyone is destined for a college but when you stack up those students against those who are college bound we create a false sense of failure. Flexibility yes, local control yes, more Federal layers of bureaucracy NO.
Senator Enzi sounds like a bipartisan, caring politician. So far, I’m not seeing that within the Senate. The Republican platform supports Charter Schools and continues to tear down public schools and their employees. ESEA works? Where on Earth have you been? Public Schools are going broke due to the unfunded mandates of No Child Left Behind and teachers and support staff are being cut so badly that many of our high schools are working at curriculum state minimums. Accountability is a good thing and was long overdue but don’t tie our hands by withholding money or by giving unfair advantage to subpar Charter Schools. Be a true bipartisan politician and vote your conscience, not your party.
Students with disabilities and those who are limited in their English proficiency are no longer in the shadows and overlooked.
But these students are overlooked. When a student has an IEP, and the IEP states they are below grade level, why are we treating them that they are at grade level? a 3rd grader, struggling at a 1st grade level, is still expected to be tested with their peers.
Yes, yes, yes! You’ve got it! I’m THRILLED to read these comments! It’s exactly what I’ve been saying for years. I actually have high school students, reading on a very elementary level, yet they’re expected to take the PSSA exam. It doesn’t make any sense. I’m so happy to know I’m not alone in this frustration.
Senator Enzi is right, NCLB needs to address the needs of ALL students just as teachers are expected to do. What is not addressed is the rapid decline in the “value” of education in our country, everyone can point fingers, but until students WANT to be educated, this entire process is a losing battle. Many will argue that the teacher needs to create an environment where students want to learn, and I agree, but the intrinsic value of wanting to be successful, not just adequate, needs to be fostered at home and in the community as well.
Amen! (Of course you are preaching to the choir, LOL.)
Senator Enzi is exactly right. NCLB must address the needs of students in both urban and rural areas, using multiple measures of accountability based on a growth model. We, in Wyoming, know Senator Enzi walks his talk and appreciate him very much.