Quick congressional action on NCLB unlikely

After taking the majority of seats in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate last month, Democrats are forging ahead with an education agenda that includes college affordability, teacher training and recruitment, academic standards, and boosting economic competitiveness.

But there are several unfinished bills lingering from the last Congress, including the Higher Education Act, Head Start, and the fiscal 2007 education appropriations bill, which Congress has delayed until January.

Despite the crowded agenda, Senate education committee Chair Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and House education committee Chair George Miller (D-Calif.), along with the ranking minority members of those committees, Sen. Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), said they are committed to completing the NCLB reauthorization by 2008. President Bush also has said he is hopeful the reauthorization of his cornerstone education bill will pass before he leaves office.

Further, leaving the premier federal education bill unfinished in an election year could be dangerous for both parties, said Reginald Felton, NSBA’s director of federal relations.

“We still believe it’s possible,” Felton said. “If [congressional leaders] can move it and get it done quickly, I think they will do it.”

NSBA has put forth a legislative agenda that would help fix some of the unintended consequences of the 2002 NCLB Act, specifically addressing issues related to assessments, adequate yearly progress (AYP), sanctions, state flexibility, and non-public schools.

The bill would give states and school districts more leeway in determining the appropriate accountability measures for their schools and students, and ultimately would lead to higher academic standards under the law.

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) is planning to reintroduce a NCLB reauthorization bill that mirrors NSBA’s agenda when Congress reconvenes in January, and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced legislation Nov. 16 consistent with NSBA’s recommendations.

NSBA President Jane Gallucci commended Crapo “for his willingness to reach out to key stakeholders, including the Idaho School Boards Association, and for his leadership in his efforts to improve the law and the academic achievement of each student, regardless of English proficiency or economic or social status.”

At a recent panel discussion, some congressional aides warned that members will be on a tight schedule for the next two years. Some of the other initiatives backed by Democratic leaders that could have an impact on the movement of any education bills focus on affordable health care and raising the minimum wage. Above all, the war in Iraq has dominated recent debates.

Beth Buehlmann, the education policy director for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, noted that new members will need time to learn the intricacies of the law, and perhaps dispel some misperceptions that they have picked up from the media and other sources.

“Not only are we going to have to work to move NCLB forward, we are going to have to deal with some myths,” she said.

Two of the issues that made most Democrats wary during the last reauthorization -- school choice and allowing faith-based organizations to access NCLB grants -- are still priorities of the GOP, said Sally Stroup, an aide to Republicans on the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

“Those are primary, fundamental principles of the Republican Party, and we are not going to give them up just because of the election,” Stroup said.

Meanwhile, Kennedy and Miller are planning to push for several initiatives that might become stand-alone bills outside the NCLB reauthorization. Kennedy plans to reintroduce an economic competitiveness bill that would give incentives to states to create more challenging academic standards.