More than two dozen school directors from around Washington state were in "the other Washington"
this past week, pressing members of the state’s Congressional delegation to make needed changes in federal education laws before the year is out.
Armed with information from their local districts and two days of intensive briefings from the National School Boards Association, WSSDA Federal Relations Network members met with key senators and representatives and their aides to make the case for revising and reauthorizing the federal No Child Left Behind Act in the current session of Congress.
Attempts to reauthorize NCLB have stalled, leading to concerns that the law will remain unchanged for the next several years. Proponents of immediate reauthorization fear momentum for reforming the law will be lost while a new administration gets up and running in 2009.
Led by WSSDA FRN Chair Patty Wood (Kelso), Washington’s delegation of school directors met with Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell to bring home the challenges posed by NCLB, particularly the problems associated with the way the act determines whether schools and districts are meeting requirements for adequate yearly progress on student achievement.
WSSDA Vice President Martha Rice (Yakima) noted an increasing number of schools are being forced into "needs improvement" status even though they are making tremendous progress on student achievement. Several directors cited examples of schools that have been honored for program innovations and improvement gains while simultaneously being stigmatized by NCLB’s AYP calculations.
School board members also underscored the financial burdens imposed by federal mandates, especially in special education. They noted that districts are being forced to cut programs and dip into local levy funds to offset exploding special education costs associated with requirements imposed by federal rules and recent court rulings.
In addition to meeting the two senators, WSSDA FRN members also talked with Reps. Brian Baird (3rd Congressional District), Rep. Norm Dicks (6th Congressional District) and key Congressional staff. In all meetings, school directors advocated for improvements in the federal government’s approach to education, including:
Revising NCLB to give states more flexibility in measuring student achievement, particularly for English language learners and students with disabilities, and to take a less punitive approach to schools and districts that are struggling to meet progress requirements.
Increasing the federal investment in public education by providing a $2.5 billion increase for Title I funding and a $2.5 billion increase in funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Preventing the administration from cutting Medicaid reimbursements to local school districts for the costs of providing school-based administrative and transportation services to low-income children with disabilities.
WSSDA FRN members also discussed issues important to Washington state, including a continuing push with the U.S. Department of Education to allow the state to test special education students at their developmental level rather than their grade level. School directors also emphasized the importance of reauthorizing the Secure Rural Schools Act, which provides funds to the states, counties and schools to offset income lost from the curtailment of federal timber sales.
