NCLB-Related Bills and Co-Sponsors
Maryland legislator sign on to fix NCLB!Support in 109th Congress for our proposals keeps growing! Currently, 186 Members of Congress have co-sponsored at least one of the 17 bills that NEA supports that would revise portions of ESEA/NCLB. NEA also supports the concepts of several other bills and is working with their sponsors to address our concerns. And for a few other bills to amend ESEA/NCLB, NEA has not taken a position.*
Maryland lawmakers are noted in bold.
SENATE
•
S. 15, the Quality Education for All Act by Sen. Bingaman (D-NM) would make
changes to several education laws, including NCLB. The NCLB improvements
are largely focused on overturning several rulings by former Secretary of
Education Paige.
It would ensure that supplemental education service (SES) providers are fully covered by civil rights laws, allow states to require SES providers to only use highly qualified teachers, establish a grant program to help schools increase capacity to meet the school choice provisions of NCLB, clarify the highly qualified teacher rules for middle school teachers, require all states to implement the HOUSSE provision for highly qualified, create grants to states to develop more reliable and appropriate assessments for students with disabilities and Limited-English Proficient students, and create a grant program to improve data collection and to train teachers in using data to improve student achievement.
It would also allow schools and school districts that failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2002-03 school year to request a review of their AYP status. Such reviews would grant them the opportunity to be evaluated in accordance with the three AYP rules changes that were issued by former Secretary Paige subsequent to the 2002-03 AYP determinations, to ensure that their AYP status is accurate. Sec. Paige has stated that the AYP rules changes are not retroactive.
Cosponsors (20): Boxer (D-CA), Clinton (D-NY), Corzine (D-NJ), Dayton (D-MN), Dodd (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Feinstein (D-CA), Harkin (D-IA), Inouye (D-HI), Kennedy (D-MA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Levin (D-MI), Mikulski (D-MD), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Rockefeller (D-WV), Sarbanes (D-MD), Schumer (D-NY), Stabenow (D-MI), Wyden (D-OR)
• S. 696, the Rural Schools Geography Act by Sen. Burns (R-MT) would amend the school choice provision of NCLB to say that a school district that has schools that are in need of improvement for having failed AYP is not required to provide a student the option to transfer to another school "if providing the option is impractical due to the distance to be traveled, a geographical barrier or hazard, the duration of the travel, or an unusually high cost of travel".
• S. 724, the No Child Left Behind Reform Act (NCLBR) by Sen. Dodd (D-CT) would give states flexibility to use additional academic indicators in addition to test scores to measure AYP and allow using test scores in growth models to measure student achievement. It also would target school choice and supplemental educational services to students in specific subgroups that fall short of AYP targets. It also provides additional flexibility, particularly for middle school teachers, in meeting the highly qualified teacher requirements, by allowing broad-based social studies and science certifications. Finally it creates a new grant program for states and school districts to improve data systems needed to measure AYP.
Cosponsors (4): Boxer (D-CA), Durbin (D-IL), Johnson (D-SD), Salazar (D-CO)
• S. 848, the Educational Reform Act of 2005 by Sen. Bingaman (D-NM)
would make changes to several education laws, including NCLB. The NCLB improvements
are largely focused on overturning several rulings by former Secretary of
Education Paige. It would ensure that supplemental education service (SES)
providers are fully covered by civil rights laws, allow states to require
SES providers to only use highly qualified teachers, allow school districts
deemed “in need of improvement” to continue to be SES providers,
establish a grant program to help schools increase capacity to meet the school
choice provisions of NCLB, clarify the highly qualified teacher rules for
middle school teachers, require all states to implement the HOUSSE provision
for highly qualified.
It would also allow schools and school districts that failed to make Adequate
Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2002-03 school year to request a review of
their AYP status. Such reviews would grant them the opportunity to be evaluated
in accordance with the three AYP rules changes that were issued by Sec. Paige
subsequent to the 2002-03 AYP determinations, to ensure that their AYP status
is accurate. Sec. Paige has stated that the AYP rules changes are not retroactive.
The NCLB provisions of this bill are also included in S.15.
• S. 1055, the No Child Left Behind Improvement Act of 2005 by Sen. Kennedy (D-MA) would make several changes to NCLB, largely focused on overturning several rulings by former Secretary of Education Paige. It would ensure that supplemental education service (SES) providers are fully covered by civil rights laws, allow states to require SES providers to only use highly qualified teachers, allow school districts deemed “in need of improvement” to continue to be SES providers, establish a grant program to help schools increase capacity to meet the school choice provisions of NCLB, clarify the highly qualified teacher rules for middle school teachers, require all states to implement the HOUSSE provision for highly qualified, create grants to states to develop more reliable and appropriate assessments for students with disabilities and limited-English proficient students, create a grant program to improve data collection and to train teachers in using data to improve student achievement, and allow schools and school districts that failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2002-03 school year to request a review of their AYP status in accordance with the three AYP rules changes. The provisions of this bill are also included in S. 15.
Cosponsor (1): Dodd (D-CT)
HOUSE
• HR 49, the Eating Disorders Awareness, Prevention, and Education Act of 2005 by Rep. Biggert (R-IL) would amend Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by making as an allowable use of funds programs to improve the identification of students with eating disorders, increase awareness of such disorders among parents and students, and train educators on effective eating disorder prevention and assistance methods, as well as mandate a study on the impact eating disorders have on educational advancement and achievement.
Cosponsors (5): DeFazio (D-OR), Price (D-NC), McDermott (D-WA), Shays (R-CT), Strickland (D-OH)
• HR 224, the Comprehensive Learning Assessment for Students and Schools (CLASS) Act by Rep. Strickland (D-OH) would make numerous improvements to the assessment and Adequate Yearly Progress provisions of NCLB by requiring accountability provisions to include multiple measures of student achievement; giving credit to schools for improving student achievement on all parts of the achievement scale, including growth over time; utilizing more accurate and equitable methods to assess academic achievement of students with disabilities and English Language Learners; and targeting school choice and supplemental services to students in the specific subgroups that fail to make AYP.
Cosponsors (9): Baldwin (D-WI), Boucher (D-VA), Gordon (D-TN), Langevin (D-RI), Matheson (D-UT), Pallone (D-NJ), Sanchez, Linda (D-CA), Spratt (D-SC), Towns (D-NY)
• HR 283, the Bullying and Gang Prevention for School Safety and Crime Reduction Act of 2005 by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) would allow the use of federal Safe and Drug Free Schools funds for bullying and gang prevention programs.
Cosponsors (16): Costello (D-IL), Cummings (D-MD), Frank (D-MA), Gonzalez (D-TX), Grijalva (D-AZ), Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Kildee (D-MI), Kucinich (D-OH), Millender-McDonald (D-CA), Owens (D-NY), Pastor (D-AZ), Payne (D-NJ), Rush (D-IL), Slaughter (D-NY), Towns (D-NY), Watson (D-CA)
• HR 284 by Rep. Shimkus (R-IL) would require states, districts and schools to have policies and implement programs (including training of teachers, administrators, and counselors) to prevent and respond effectively to bullying and harassment as a condition of receiving federal funds under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program.
Cosponsors (28): Allen (D-ME), Baca (D-CA), Cleaver (D-MO), Conyers (D-MI), Costello (D-IL), Davis (D-IL), Emanuel (D-IL), Farr (D-CA), Grijalva (D-AZ), Holden (D-PA) Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Johnson (R-IL), Jones (D-Ohio), Kirk (R-IL), Kucinich (D-OH), LaHood (R-IL), Lee (D-CA), Lipinski (D-IL), Miller (D-CA), Neal (D-MA), Osborne (R-NE), Pallone (D-NJ), Payne (D-NJ), Platts (R-PA), Price (D-NC), Towns (D-N.Y.), Watson (D-CA), Wynn (D-MD)
• HR 363, the Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teachers Act (Keep our PACT Act) by Rep. Van Hollen (D-MD) would guarantee full funding for both NCLB and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Cosponsors (39): Abercrombie (D-HI), Andrews (D-NJ), Barrow (D-GA), Becerra (D-CA), Bishop (D-NY), Case (D-HI), Cleaver (D-MO), Conyers (D-MI), Crowley (D-NY), Davis (D-IL), Davis (D-CA), Eshoo (D-CA), Filner (D-CA), Grijalva (D-AZ), Hinojosa (D-TX), Holt (D-NJ), Kildee (D-MI), Kind (D-WI), Kucinich (D-OH), Lee (D-CA), Maloney (D-NY), McCarthy (D-NY), McCollum (D-MN), McDermott (D-WA), Miller (D-CA), Owens (D-NY), Pallone (D-NJ), Payne (D-NJ), Ruppersberger (D-MD), Ryan (D-OH), Sanders (I-VT), Scott (D-VA), Strickland (D-OH), Tierney (D-MA), Watson (D-CA), Weiner (D-NY), Wexler (D-FL), Woolsey (D-CA), Wu (D-OR)
• HR 547, the Graduation for All Act by Rep. Hinojosa (D-TX) would amend the graduation provisions of AYP to require that such information count separately for each designated subgroup of students, that such information be reported on the required school report cards, as well as revise the definition of graduation rates. In addition, it creates a new $1 billion grant program to improve adolescent literacy in middle and high schools.
Cosponsors (82): Abercrombie (D-HI), Ackerman (D-NY), Andrews (D-NJ), Baca (D-CA), Becerra (D-CA), Berkley (D-NV), Berman (D-CA), Bishop, S. (D-GA), Bordallo (D-Guam), Capps (D-CA), Cardoza (D-CA), Case (D-HI), Conyers (D-MI), Crowley (D-NY), Cuellar (D-TX), Cummings (D-MD), Davis (D-CA), Davis (D-IL), Delahunt (D-MA), Doggett (D-TX), Edwards (D-TX), Emanuel (D-IL), Engel (D-NY), Etheridge (D-NC), Fattah (D-PA), Filner (D-CA), Frank (D-MA), Gonzalez (D-TX), Green, G. (D-TX), Grijalva (D-AZ), Gutierrez (D-IL), Holden (D-PA), Holt (D-NJ), Honda (D-CA), Hoyer (D-MD), Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Jones (D-OH), Kind (D-WI), Kucinich (D-OH), Larson (D-CT), Lowey (D-NY), McCarthy (D-NY), McCollum (D-MN), McGovern (D-MA), Menendez (D-NJ), Millender-McDonald (D-CA), Miller (D-CA), Moran, J (D-VA), Murtha (D-PA), Nadler (D-NY), Napolitano (D-CA), Neal (D-MA), Owens (D-NY), Ortiz (D-TX), Pallone (D-NJ), Pascrell (D-NJ), Pastor (D-AZ), Payne (D-NJ), Rangel (D-NY), Reyes (D-TX), Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Rush (D-IL), Salazar, J. (D-CO), Sanchez, Linda (D-CA), Schiff (D-CA), Cleaver (D-MO), Lee (D-CA), Scott, (D-VA), Serrano (D-NY), Solis (D-CA), Stark (D-CA), Taylor (R-NC), Towns (D-NY), Udall, T. (D-NM), Van Hollen (D-MD), Velazquez (D-NY), Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), Watson (D-CA), Weiner (D-NY), Wexler (D-FL), Woolsey (D-CA), Wu (D-OR)
• HR 559 by Rep. Lee (D-CA) would amend ESEA by creating a new $100 million a year grant program to be used by states and school districts to hire additional school-based mental health providers, including additional school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers.
Cosponsors (25): Allen (D-ME), Costello (D-IL), Cummings (D-MD), Etheridge (D-NC), Kennedy (D-RI), Kucinich (D-OH), Lipinski (D-IL), McCarthy (D-NY), McCollum (D-MN), McDermott (D-WA), Millender-McDonald (D-CA), Miller (D-CA), Moore (D-WI), Owens (D-NY), Payne (D-NJ), Ruppersberger (D-MD), Rush (D-IL), Sanders (I-VT), Schakowsky (D-IL), Thompson (D-MS), Udall, T (D-NM), Watson (D-CA), Waxman (D-CA),Wexler (D-FL)
• HR 1177, the State and Local Education Flexibility Act of 2005 by Rep. Terry (R-NE) would make numerous changes to NCLB including: allowing states the flexibility to implement a localized testing system instead of statewide tests (as Nebraska now does), allowing states to test students with cognitive disabilities based on their Individualized Education Plans under IDEA, providing flexibility in testing of Limited-English Proficient students, and providing flexibility to special education teachers and rural school teachers who teach multiple subjects to meet the highly qualified requirements of NCLB.
• HR 1506, the No Child Left Behind Reform Act (NCLBR) by Rep. DeLauro (D-CT) would give states flexibility to use additional academic indicators in addition to test scores to measure AYP, and allow using test scores in growth models to measure student achievement. It also would target school choice and supplemental educational services to students in specific subgroups that fall short of AYP targets. It also provides additional flexibility, particularly for middle school teachers, in meeting the highly qualified teacher requirements, by allowing broad-based social studies and science certifications. Finally it creates a new grant program for states and school districts to improve data systems needed to measure AYP. NOTE: this bill is identical to S. 724 sponsored by Sen. Dodd.
Cosponsors (9): Inslee (D-WA), Larson (D-CT), Kilpatrick (D-MI), McCollum (D-MN), McGovern (D-MA), Peterson (D-MN), Shays (R-CT), Simmons (R-CT), Wexler (D-FL)
• HR 1722 by Rep. Bradley (R-NH) would amend AYP provisions for assessing students with disabilities and recent refugee students, as well as lower the threshold to make “Safe Harbor”.
• HR 1853 by Rep. Ramstad (R-MN) would authorize additional funding
for Title I to ensure that no state receives less than it received in Fiscal
Year (FY) 2003 for both FY 05 and FY 06.
Cosponsor (1): Moore (D-KS)
• HR 2569, the No Child Left Behind Improvement Act of 2005 by Rep. Andrews (D-NJ) would make several changes to AYP including aligning assessments for students with disabilities with their IEP plans, focusing assessments for limited-English proficient students on measuring their progress in acquiring English language proficiency, and allowing states to utilize growth models of longitudinal changes in student test scores. It also modifies the highly qualified teacher rules for middle school teachers who teach multiple subjects, special education teachers, and correction education teachers.
NEA has not taken a position on the following bills:
Rep. Butterfield (D-NC) has introduced HR 529, the Respecting Our Leaders in Education Model Act of 2005 (the ROLE Model Act), which would allow states to suspend for up to three consecutive school years the sanctions against schools which fail to make AYP in any year in which IDEA was not fully funded at the 40% federal share. Cosponsors *(2): Owens (D-NY) and Rush (D-IL).
Rep. Honda (D-CA) has introduced HR 551, the Student Privacy Protection Act of 2005, which would amend the provision of NCLB that requires school districts to provide student directory information to military recruiters unless the parent or the student affirmatively opts out of the release of such information, to only allow the release of such information if the parent provides written consent for such release.
Cosponsors (36): Baldwin (D-WI), Becerra (D-CA), Berkley (D-NV), Conyers (D-MI), DeFazio (D-OR), Farr (D-CA), Filner (D-CA), Green, G. (D-TX), Grijalva (D-AZ), Gutierrez (D-IL), Hinchey (D-NY), Jones, S. (D-OH), Kucinich (D-OH), Lee (D-CA), McCollum (D-MN), McDermott (D-WA), McGovern (D-MA), McKinney (D-NC), Meehan (D-MA), Meeks (D-NY), Miller (D-CA), Nadler (D-NY), Oberstar (D-MN), Owens (D-NY), Pallone (D-NJ), Pascrell (D-NJ), Paul (R-TX), Rush (D-IL), Schakowsky (D-IL), Serrano (D-NY), Slaughter (D-NY), Solis (D-CA), Stark (D-CA), Watson (D-CA), Wexler (D-FL), Woolsey (D-CA)
Sen. Allen (R-VA) has introduced S. 901, the Flexibility for Champion Schools Act, which would grant waivers of the Adequate Yearly Progress provisions to states that meet certain criteria, including administering statewide tests in writing, science, and history. While NEA supports the concept of granting states additional flexibility in establishing their own accountability systems, we have concerns about limiting flexibility only to those states that administer additional statewide standardized tests.
Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA) has introduced HR 1821, the Flexibility for Champion Schools Act, which would grant waivers of the Adequate Yearly Progress provisions to states that meet certain criteria, including administering statewide tests in writing, science, and history. While NEA supports the concept of granting states additional flexibility in establishing their own accountability systems, we have concerns about limiting flexibility only to those states that administer additional statewide standardized tests. This bill is identical to S. 901.
Cosponsors (7): Boucher (D-VA), Davis, J. (R-VA), Davis, T. (R-VA), Drake (R-VA), Forbes (R-VA), Goode (R-VA), Moran (D-VA).
NEA opposes the following bill:
Rep. Pitts (R-PA) has introduced HR 182, the Dollars to the Classroom Act which would repeal several NCLB programs (Comprehensive School Reform, Teacher Quality State Grants, Math and Science Partnerships, Troops-to-Teachers, the National Writing Project, Civic Education, Education Technology State Grants, Ready-to-Learn Television, Elementary and Secondary School Counseling, Character Education, Smaller Learning Communities, Gifted and Talented, Foreign Language Assistance, Physical Education, Arts in Education, Parental Assistance Centers, and others) and replace them with a block grant.
*Last Updated 05/25/2005
