NCLB Recommendation #39

SUBJECT
Deferral of Restructuring Sanctions:
Inadequate Federal Appropriations for Disadvantaged Students (Title I)

P.L. 107-110 PROVISIONS
TITLE I PART A SUBPART 1 SEC. 1116

NSBA RECOMMENDATIONS
#39: States should be allowed to delay implementation of restructuring schools or school districts in years when Title I funds are not increased by at least $2.5 billion from previous year’s level.

RATIONALE
Federal funding should be increased at rates that recognize the high costs of NCLB sanctions local school districts must incur to implement the federal mandates.

PROPOSED BILL LANGUAGE
Section 1116 (20 U.S.C. 6316) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(i) Conditional Implementation.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a State educational agency, local educational agency, or school, as applicable, may defer the requirements of subsection (b)(7) and (8) and subsections (c)(7) and (10) in any fiscal year for which both of the following apply:
“(1) The amount appropriated under section 1002(a) for that fiscal year fails to exceed, by at least $2,500,000,000, the amount appropriated under that section the preceding fiscal year.

IMPACT OF CURRENT LAW
Congress is currently only funding Title I at 50 percent of its authorized level. However, schools and school districts continue to face expanding mandates under the law from year to year. They must: have aligned standards and assessments and test all grades 3-8 and once in high school in 2005-06; meet the law’s highly qualified teacher requirements by the end of 2006-07; test students in science in 2007-08; and spend resources on the increasingly higher numbers of schools and school districts that are identified for improvement and facing more severe sanctions. In addition, schools and school districts must do more each year to help their students meet the rising AYP targets. Despite these mandates, Congress has continued a steady decline in adequately funding NCLB over the last few years. As AYP targets ratchet higher over time, more schools are expected to be in restructuring. Restructuring is an expensive proposition because it involves drastic operational changes to a school or school district. It will divert local resources from other programs if federal funds are inadequate.

NSBA CONTACT
Reggie Felton, director of federal relations, 703-838-6782 or rfelton@nsba.org.