Kennedy Response to Bush's No Child Left Behind Speech

Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on President Bush’s No Child Left Behind remarks:

“Our nation’s future depends on many things, but certainly one of the most important aspects of the strength of our democracy is the excellence of our public schools. The No Child Left Behind Act charted a sound course for the future of American education, to improve our schools, to set high standards and focus on student outcomes, and to close the achievement gap so that all students have the benefit of a quality education.

But sadly, President Bush has yet to learn his lesson on leaving no child behind. This Administration and the Republican Congress have turned the No Child Left Behind Act into a political slogan rather than the solemn oath it was intended to be to our nation’s students, parents, and teachers. The President calls for private school vouchers while America’s schools continue to wait for the funding needed to carry out the reforms under the law. Republican budgets have fallen short by over $55 billion since the No Child Left Behind Act was enacted, leaving 3.7 million children behind this year alone.

Schools need better solutions to respond to the challenges identified by the No Child Left Behind Act. We need full funding for the Act.

Next year, we also need to fine tune the Act to make it more effective in assisting struggling schools, by providing new federal funds for advisors and teacher coaches who are experienced in turning low student achievement around, and by creating new partnerships between high-performing and lower-performing schools. We can help give the neediest schools greater access to the best teachers by improving training and encouraging teachers to take charge of their own professional growth, establishing new strategies for teachers to advance and become mentor and master teachers, and by rewarding those who do with higher salaries. It also makes sense to offer incentives for schools interested in expanding the school day or year, in order to increase learning time for students.

I welcome the opportunity to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act next year. It’s time to fulfill the promise under the No Child Left Behind Act and get these essential reforms back on track.”

Senator Kennedy’s Proposals for Reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act

Supporting High-Quality Teaching. Senator Kennedy’s proposal would identify high performing teachers and provide them career advancement opportunities (additional pay with additional responsibilities) so that our best teachers can earn more money, move ahead, and serve as instructional leaders and mentors to new teachers. It would shift professional development toward a model that’s more relevant to teacher’s needs and helps them take charge of their own growth. Senator Kennedy is interested in exploring ways to expand NCLB’s requirements to promote teacher effectiveness (in addition to the subject matter competencies already required under the law), and he strongly supports closing the teacher distribution gap so that all students (regardless of race and income) have access to an excellent teacher.

Better Support for Low-Performing Schools. Senator Kennedy believes that it’s important to re-affirm that NCLB is not designed as a tool to criticize public schools, but instead to identify challenges and address them. He supports funding to ensure that states have the resources needed to deliver expert technical assistance and help to schools needing improvement or corrective action. Senator Kennedy’s proposal would help train teachers in low-performing schools on how to use data to improve instruction, better align curriculum and instruction to standards, provide educational advisors and coaches with specific expertise in turning around low-performing schools, and pair low-performing with similar higher-performing schools.

Improving Student Assessment. Not only is assessment an important tool in teaching and learning, but the accountability decisions under NCLB are only as good as the instruments used to measure student achievement. Senator Kennedy supports enhancing the quality of assessments under the law so that they’re more useful and appropriate for teachers and students. Senator Kennedy’s proposal would create a new fund for states to develop better assessment and data systems that track the progress and growth of students from year to year, and to review and improve assessments and policies for limited English proficient and special needs children – two populations for which NCLB’s current assessments are less than adequate.

Improving State Standards. As today’s economy re-defines the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the global marketplace, it´s crucial now more than ever for our schools to challenge all students to learn to high standards. Senator Kennedy’s proposal would modernize public education by disseminating national benchmarks and providing assistance to states to upgrade and improve academic standards and curriculum, to better match what students need to know and be able to do as they enter college or the workforce. He would also establish State Councils (comprised of the education community, business, and other state and local stakeholders) to facilitate this process.

Strengthening Parent-Community Involvement. Active parent and community involvement is critical to the academic success of students. Senator Kennedy’s proposal would encourage parent, family, and community involvement in schools, by providing parent-family outreach coordinators for schools. Under this plan, a school-based coordinator would serve as a liaison with the community, to oversee parent engagement and activities and help access outside services and supports for children.

–Tristan Takos