April 11, 2005 -- Senator Asks Changes in ‘No Child Left Behind’ Law

Following up on his state’s decision to challenge the federal government on the “No Child Left Behind” education law (News Alert, April 8), Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd (D), introduced legislation April 7 that would make three changes in the disputed law. Dodd’s bill, S. 724, would:

• Allow schools to be given credit for performing well on measures other than test scores when calculating student achievement;
• Allow schools to target school choice and supplemental services to students who demonstrate a need for them;
• Allow schools to create a single assessment to cover multiple subjects for middle grade level teachers and allow states to issue a broad certification for science and social studies, in order to meet the law’s requirement that all teachers be “highly qualified” to teach their subjects.

Noting that appropriations for No Child Left Behind are $39 billion below what was promised when President Bush signed the law, which requires yearly testing of students in grades three through eight, Dodd said the shortfall has “left students and their teachers grappling with new burdens and little help to bear them.” Dodd indicated that he supports improving the quality of education in America, but he said the law is being enforced by the administration “in a manner that is inflexible, unreasonable, and unhelpful to students.”

Dodd’s bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Education for consideration. It and other bills can be tracked by logging on to the Library of Congress website, http://thomas.loc.gov and entering the bill number.