By George H. McShan
2/22/05 -- NSBA’s 32nd annual Federal Relations Network (FRN) Conference, held in Washington, D.C., Jan. 30-Feb. 1 provided school board members the opportunity to educate Congress about the importance of public education and the critical role of school boards in improving student achievement and preserving our democratic society.
My fellow board members, you do your work with common sense and uncommon expertise. You do your work in the face of great challenges and under enormous pressure. Most of all, you do your work with determination, dedication, and diligence.
The 108th Congress was deeply divided over the war in Iraq, tax cuts, and partisan politics. You were able to bring the message to Congress that the future of our children and grandchildren is extremely important and nonnegotiable. You concentrated on education issues with a laser-like focus.
As a result of your work, the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) was signed into law through 2011 and contains many of the improvements sought by NSBA.
Thanks to your advocacy efforts, the E-rate was protected for one more year. Also, you were able to convince Congress to restore a large portion (almost $200 million) for Title V. This program, which provides state grants for innovative education programs, directly benefits local school districts.
Our advocacy efforts now turn to improving the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). You made a huge statement on Capitol Hill during the FRN Conference, and the key to improving NCLB is now in the hands of the 109th Congress.
On Feb. 1, nearly 900 school board leaders from across the nation paid personal visits to the offices of members of the Senate and House of Representatives to express a strong, clear message: Strengthen NCLB and provide the necessary funding to carry out the mandates of the law by fulfilling the commitment to fully fund Title I and IDEA.
The energy that these school board members created on Capitol Hill was palpable and left a lasting impression on members of Congress and their staffs.
They also left something else. Each senator and representative received an invitation with an actual key attached. The invitation asked them to visit firsthand a school in their local district. The key showed them that they have the power to unlock the potential of our students and our schools. While the key is symbolic, the urgency is real.
This year, our students need Congress to unlock the door that leads to strengthening NCLB. School board leaders invited their congressional representatives to take the first step and visit schools to see the challenges they face that are exacerbated by the underfunded mandates of NCLB and IDEA: the out-of-date textbooks, the needed building repairs, and the overcrowded classrooms.
Such visits also offer school board members a great opportunity to show off their success stories, such as the innovative uses of technology, the Advanced Placement classes, the after-school programs, and inspired teachers. Such successes demonstrate how much public education can achieve -- and how much better our schools can be with the necessary resources.
Congress, literally and figuratively, now holds the key to our students’ success.
We believe:
• Schools need more flexibility to judge the achievement of students with disabilities and English language learners on the basis of their unique learning needs.
• States need more flexibility to hold schools accountable for making adequate yearly progress (AYP) in a way that is more responsive to state goals and to allow schools to use multiple ways of measuring achievement.
• Students will be better served if high-cost remedies are targeted to those students who are not making AYP, rather than imposing sweeping sanctions on an entire school.
• Students will benefit if schools have the flexibility to offer tutoring services rather than only transfers in the first year in which sanctions are imposed.
• School districts need Congress to ease the financial burden of NCLB on overall school budgets by requiring high-cost interventions only when the actual appropriations reach specific annual funding levels.
These points are outlined clearly in NSBA’s new bill, which is aptly titled the No Child Left Behind Improvement Act of 2005.
While some legislators are reluctant to change the current law until its scheduled reauthorization in 2007, they are willing to start listening to school board members and educators about what needs to be done -- and the urgency for faster action.
That’s why it’s so important to take advantage of the momentum now and invite your senators and representatives to your local schools.
As part of NSBA’s Day on the Hill at the FRN Conference, I, along with 15 other school board members from Texas, met with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and other members of the Texas congressional delegation.
Hutchison expressed positive concern about our issues and told us she wants to learn more about critical issues facing public schools, particularly accountability.
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce and a strong advocate for public education, told us he believes that the promise of NCLB must be kept as intended in the bipartisan legislation.
Many of you shared similar experiences with your members of Congress.
It’s now time to tell our story to make NCLB better for all children. I encourage you to give your members of Congress “the key” to improving public education. Let them know the nation’s most precious resource is in their hands.
And we must continue our quest to collaborate with and bring our advocacy message to the White House and the U.S. Department of Education, as well as Congress.
We must lead with personal courage, great resolve, and passion to preserve our democratic society.