“We definitely know a lot of states want more flexibility from the federal government, but it’s difficult to know how to make the flexibility of moving funds without a more flexible accountability system,” Beaumont said.
While most of the discussion in Congress focuses on how to fix problems with NCLB, Jones pointed out that there have been positive outcomes of the law as well.
“Today we are making progress on the dropout crisis; we now have a 72-percent graduation rate. That’s progress being made; it’s actually the highest graduation rate since the late 1980s,” Jones said. “There’s definitely good news and we’re making positive progress, but there’s definitely a lot that needs to be done,” he added. Jones encouraged parents and students to hold their elected officials accountable for providing them with a top-tier education.
On May 25, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed the first in a series of bills it intends to work on this summer, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee might take up a bill that reauthorizes NCLB this summer.
Beaumont thinks the momentum for change might carry on in many states and school systems, even if NCLB isn’t rewritten this year.
“I think despite the grim budget situation facing state and school districts, states and school districts are still moving forward on various reforms. I think Congress has seen the leadership role that states and districts are taking,” she said. “If the reauthorization doesn’t happen, I think states can continue to move forward on all this kind of work. Absent reauthorization, I think a lot of innovative stuff that is happening at the state and local level will continue.”
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has suggested he might grant more waivers of NCLB rules if lawmakers don’t overhaul the law this year.
Jones alluded to the motivation behind finally reauthorizing NCLB this year: “One of the reasons why Congress and the administration feel as though a reauthorization has to happen is this goal of reaching 100 percent proficiency by 2014. The problem is rather imminent. Eighty-two percent of schools this year will ‘fail.’ The majority of our schools will be in the status of failure; what does that say about the status of our system?”
He proposed that a rewording be put in place to address the problem, and that individual student growth should be the primary measurable factor. “I think rather than saying ‘proficient,’ we should have the goal of making our students college- and career-ready. Instead of having some kind of deadline, I think we have to measure how states are moving to help their students make these standards,” said Jones.
Beaumont agreed that the deadline issue is problematic.
“I think the idea of an end goal is one of the most vexing issues of NCLB and this reauthorization process. You are still seeing people talking about a date in the future, or how much you reduce the achievement gap within a certain number of years to be more reasonable,” she said.
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