[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 130 (Thursday, November 16, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S11069]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAPO:
  S. 4064. A bill to improve the amendments made by the No Child Left 
Behind Act of 2001; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, today I introduce the Improving No Child 
Left Behind--INCLB--Act. As a father and a legislator, I am committed 
to advocating for public education in Idaho and throughout the Nation. 
Ensuring that every child receives a good education is one of my top 
priorities. President Bush's sweeping education reforms included in the 
No Child Left Behind Act have had measurable positive effects on many 
students across the country, and I support the law's objective of 
ensuring that every child achieves his or her potential.
  However, given time to observe the implementation of the law, it is 
now appropriate to review opportunities for needed improvements to the 
underlying program. After conferring with a number of organizations in 
Idaho and at the national level, I have identified implementation 
concerns that seem common to various stakeholder groups. In response, I 
have created the Improving No Child Left Behind Act. This bill contains 
a number of workable, commonsense modifications to the law. These 
provisions preserve the major focus on student achievement and 
accountability and, at the same time, ensure that schools and school 
districts are accurately and fairly assessed. The act ensures that 
local schools and districts have more flexibility and control in 
educating our Nation's children. The goal of the act is expressed in 
its name: to improve No Child Left Behind.
  The bill does a number of things: INCLB would allow supplemental 
services like tutoring to be offered to students sooner than they are 
currently available; INCLB would provide flexibility for States to use 
additional types of assessment models for measuring student progress; 
INCLB grants States more flexibility in assessing students with 
disabilities; INCLB would ensure more fair and accurate assessments of 
Limited English Proficiency--LEP--students; INCLB would create a 
student testing participation range, providing flexibility for 
uncontrollable variations in student attendance; INCLB would allow 
schools to target resources to those student populations who need the 
most attention by applying sanctions only when the same student group 
fails to make adequate progress in the same subject for two consecutive 
years; and INCLB would ensure that students are counted properly and 
accurately in assessment and reporting systems.
  Taken together, these provisions reflect a realistic assessment of 
both the strengths and weaknesses of No Child Left Behind. While there 
may be many issues that divide us, our responsibility in education is 
clear. We must promote successful, meaningful public education for our 
children. The INCLB Act will ensure that INCLB continues to be an 
avenue to success for educators and students throughout Idaho and the 
Nation.
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