September 29, 2003

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND – UNREASONABLE STANDARDS NEED RE-THINKING

The federal No Child Left Behind Act – NCLB – has dumped on the states educational reform that is commendable in purpose, but short on funds and long on requirements that are nearly impossible to meet. While Maryland and most other states are struggling to compensate for huge budget deficits, the 2004 federal budget shortchanges NCLB by $8 billion, and thus, provides the smallest percentage increase in education in eight years.

According to NCLB, states must develop tough new education achievement standards and test children in grades 3 through 8 annually. Schools that fail to meet the federal adequate yearly progress standards - AYP – on tests must allow students to transfer to other schools, offer tutoring and other outside services. Schools that fail to achieve AYP after four years are required to undertake major overhaul, including the hiring of new staff. After failure for six years, the school is subject to state takeover.

NCLB mandates that schools show not only an overall average improvement on tests, but also that special education students, with a wide range of learning disabilities, meet the same AYP standards as the rest of the students. In short, NCLB requires that all students meet the same academic achievement levels, even if those students suffer from mental retardation, dyslexia, visual impairment or can barely speak English.

Among Maryland special education students, only 25% of third graders and 33% of fifth graders passed the reading test. Only 8% of eighth graders passed the math exam. It has been estimated that to meet the federal standards, most special education students would have to accelerate their learning to cover more than a year’s worth of material every year.

Trying to bring all students up to highest level of achievement they can master is a commendable goal. However, to expect all students to perform at the same high level of achievement is sheer lunacy.

What happens when this unrealistic achievement bar is put in place is that schools, known for high academic achievement that have a large number of foreign students, often fail to achieve the NCLB academic standards. The inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education achievement assessments is causing many high achieving schools across the nation to fail to meet AYP standards.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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Thus, Dunbar High School in Baltimore City met the federal standards, while Montgomery Blair High School in Montgomery County, a high academic achieving school with a large number of students who have limited English skills, failed to meet the standards. Only 37% of Maryland schools met the federal achievement standards.

Nationally, about 36% of schools met the AYP standards. About 66% of California schools and 80% of Florida failed to meet AYP goals. In Northern Virginia, not one of the twelve school districts met the federal standards. Out of 440 schools in the twelve districts, only 215 schools met federal standards.

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that NCLB asks the states to do more with less at a time when states are struggling to meet current funding obligations. A Vermont study of ten states found that seven states would have to increase their education funding for K through 12 by 25% to implement NCLB. The National Conference of State Legislatures noted that primary education already accounts for 35% to 70% of all state budgets. An increase of 25% will be crippling to many states.

I wholeheartedly support the education goals of NCLB. We should seek to bring every student up to his or her highest level of achievement. However, the architects of NCLB must recognize that all children cannot attain the same level of achievement. Those who want NCLB to succeed must also recognize that it cannot succeed without adequate federal funding.

Sincerely,

Eric Bromwell

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