[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 9, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H902-H903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bonner). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Burns) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, No Child Left Behind was an Act passed 
overwhelmingly by a bipartisan majority in the Congress in 2001. It was 
signed into law by President Bush in January of 2002. While I was not 
here to vote for this bill, I am a supporter of the goals that this 
legislation is designed to achieve.
  Interestingly, some of those who voted for final passage of the No 
Child Left Behind bill in the House and for the conference report now 
have proposed legislation to drastically alter this legislation, and 
some organizations say that it needs significant modification. What is 
wrong? What is wrong with asking for higher achievement in our schools? 
Why should we not provide more information for parents about their 
child's achievement?
  I would like to highlight several facts about the No Child Left 
Behind legislation. First of all, No Child Left Behind supports 
learning in the early years, thereby preventing many learning 
difficulties that arise later.
  Children who enter school with language skills and prereading skills 
are more likely to read well in the early grades and succeed in latter 
years. In fact, research shows that most reading problems faced by 
adolescents and adults are the result of problems that could have been 
prevented through good instruction in early childhood years. No Child 
Left Behind targets resources for early childhood education so that all 
youngsters get off to the right start.
  Secondly, No Child Left Behind provides more information for parents 
about their children's achievement.
  Under the No Child Left Behind legislation, each State must measure 
every public school student's achievement in reading and math in grades 
3 through 8, and then at least once during grades 10 through 12. By the 
school year 2007 and 2008, State assessments in science will also be 
underway. It is important to note that these achievements are based on 
State academic content and achievement standards. Each State defines 
its own standards and each State determines what test it will use to 
measure student achievement.
  The third thing I think is important is No Child Left Behind provides 
parents and taxpayers with important information about the performance 
of local schools.
  No Child Left Behind requires that State and school districts give 
parents an easy-to-read, detailed report card on schools and school 
districts, telling them which ones are succeeding and why. Included in 
the report card are student achievement data broken out by race, by 
ethnicity, by gender, by English language proficiency, migrant status, 
disability status, and low-income status, as well as important 
information about the professional qualifications of our teachers.
  With these provisions, No Child Left Behind ensures that parents have 
important timely information about the schools their children attend, 
whether they are performing well or not, for all children, regardless 
of their background.
  Fourth, No Child Left Behind gives children and parents a lifeline.
  In this new era of education, children are no longer trapped in low-
performing schools. Under No Child Left Behind, schools must use 
Federal funds to make needed improvements. In the event of a school's 
continued poor performance, parents have an option. They have the 
option that ensures their child receives the high quality education to 
which they are entitled. That might mean that a child would transfer to 
a higher-performing school in an area, or it may mean they may receive 
supplemental educational services in their community, such as tutoring, 
after-school programs or remedial classes.
  No Child Left Behind improves teaching and learning by providing 
better information to parents, to teachers, to principals, and to the 
community.
  Annual tests to measure children's achievement provide school 
officials with independent information about each child's strengths and 
weaknesses. Teachers, principals, and superintendents across the 
country are using the data from state assessments to make more 
effective decisions for students, schools, and districts.
  Districts can use information provided from state assessments to 
determine needs and target resources.
  Principals can use information from state assessments to determine 
the appropriate professional development needs of teachers and to help 
meet the needs of all subgroups of students.
  Teachers can use information from assessments to inform classroom 
decisions and provide the best possible instruction to ensure that all 
students are learning.
  No Child Left Behind ensures that teacher quality is a high priority. 
Because of the proven correlation between teacher quality and student 
academic achievement, No Child Left Behind includes provisions stating 
that all teachers of core academic areas must be ``highly qualified'' 
by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. Each state is responsible for 
developing its own definition of ``highly qualified'' and each state 
has the flexibility to develop its own system to measure teacher 
qualifications. States are also encouraged to be innovative in finding 
ways to improve teacher quality, including alternative certification, 
merit pay, and bonuses for teachers in high-need subject areas like 
math and science.

  No Child Left Behind focuses on what works. No Child Left Behind puts 
a special emphasis on implementing educational programs and practices 
that have been clearly demonstrated to be effective through rigorous 
scientific research. Federal funding is now targeted to support such 
programs.
  For example, the Reading First program makes federal funds available 
to help reading teachers in the early grades strengthen old skills and 
gain new ones in instructional techniques that scientifically based 
research has shown to be effective.
  No Child Left Behind provides state and local leaders with 
unprecedented flexibility as they implement the law. The foundation of 
No Child Left Behind is a system of state standards and state 
assessments to ensure accountability. Each state sets its own standards 
and each state determines what assessment it will use to measure 
student achievement.
  To provide state and local school districts with as much flexibility 
as possible, No Child Left Behind provides the ability to transfer up 
to 50 percent of the funding they receive for Teacher Quality, 
Educational Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools, to any one of these programs or to Title I. This ability to 
transfer federal funds among certain accounts is new under No Child 
Left Behind and no ``permission'' is required before transferring 
funds.
  States and local school districts also have the opportunity to apply 
for demonstration projects providing even more flexibility in how 
federal resources are used.
  Additionally, recent policies announced by the U.S. Department of 
Education are providing states and local school districts with even 
more flexibility as they meet the academic needs of students with 
disabilities and English language learners.
  I'm pleased that my home state of Georgia is responsive to such 
concerns as AYP. The state Department of Education meets weekly to deal 
with challenges and suggestions on implementation. Tips and strategies 
are sent out on a monthly basis to help school systems improve with 
regard to AYP.
  No Child Left Behind provides more resources to our schools.
  Because reforms implemented by No Child Left Behind, President Bush 
and the Congress are now investing more in education than at any point 
in history. In fiscal year 2001, the Federal Government provided $17.4 
billion for programs that now constitute No Child Left Behind. The 
fiscal year 2001 appropriation was signed into law by President 
Clinton. In January of 2002, President Bush signed the bipartisan No 
Child Left Behind Act, which reformed many of the Federal Government's 
educational programs, consolidated several programs to make them more 
efficient, provided new flexibility for

[[Page H903]]

State and local leaders to shift funds between different programs, and 
to strengthen accountability systems to ensure that taxpayers' money 
helps increase the achievement of all students.
  After signing the No Child Left Behind reforms into law, President 
Bush approved the funding for Fiscal Year 2002 and dramatically 
increased the federal government's investment in education.
  While the funding level in Fiscal Year 2001 was $17.4 billion (see 
chart):
  Funding for No Child Left Behind programs in Fiscal Year 2002 was $22 
billion.
  In Fiscal Year 2003, funding rose to $23.6 billion.
  In Fiscal Year 2004, funding increased to $24.3 billion.
  For Fiscal Year 2005, President Bush has proposed another increase to 
$24.8 billion.
  If President Bush's Fiscal Year 2005 budget is enacted, spending on 
No Child Left Behind programs will have increased 42.5 percent ($17.4 
billion to $24.8 billion) since he took the oath of office. And even 
more importantly, those increased funds come with a renewed 
accountability for results.
  These are reasons that we should stand behind the law: it provides 
flexibility, funding, and school and child improvement. Another reason 
is a personal story.
  Cathy Heizman, the Director of the Child Advocacy Center in 
Cincinnati explains the importance of schools being held accountable 
for the educational results of students with disabilities:

       All the time (my adult daughter) Cara received special 
     education services, no one was held accountable for her 
     learning. She was in general education classes, but the 
     teachers weren't expected to teach her anything. The special 
     education staff, who were supposed to provide support 
     services, often just chose not to do what was on her IEP. As 
     long as Cara didn't cause trouble and she made it to class on 
     time, they were happy.
       My daughter has a good life. She has a job, a steady 
     volunteer opportunity, friends and family who care about her. 
     But, I can't help but wonder what other chances she might 
     have had if someone had actually tried to teach her academics 
     while she was in school.
       Now, [because of No Child Left Behind] we are all 
     accountable for every child's educational progress. The 
     percentage of students on IEPs who pass proficiency tests, 
     will be listed separately on district and building report 
     cards. The entire community will understand if the schools 
     have actually taught our kids what they need to know, what 
     all the other kids know. We'll finally have something to hold 
     on to. We will be able to hold someone responsible.
       This is a time for all of us to work closely together to 
     make certain that we grab this opportunity to raise the 
     expectations for every child. This could be the last best 
     chance we get. If nothing changes, if our children don't 
     learn, if the schools don't perform, then it will all have 
     been for nothing. It is our obligation to make this moment in 
     time mean something.

  Don't we all want what's best for our children? Don't we want to see 
our children excel with every opportunity given them?
  It's our obligation to allow children a high quality education. And 
it's our responsibility to make sure that the No Child Left Behind 
law--which passed this chamber with a bipartisan vote of 381 to 41--is 
implemented fairly and appropriately not simply ``fixed'' because some 
organizations find it flawed. As a Congress, we're conducting that 
implementation oversight. I am pleased to see our Education and 
Workforce Committee hold oversight hearings on No Child Left Behind law 
and hope that it will continue.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to continue to support a good solid 
implementation of No Child Left Behind.

                          ____________________