[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 24, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4922-S4924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. Salazar):
  S. 1194. A bill to improve the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce with Senator 
Salazar a very important piece of legislation, ``The No Child Left 
Behind Reform Act.'' This legislation makes three basic changes to the 
No Child Left Behind Act which was signed into law in January of 2002.
  Five years ago I supported the No Child Left Behind Act because I 
care about improving the quality of education in America for all of our 
children. I believed that this law would help to achieve that goal by 
establishing rigorous measures of student achievement, by helping 
teachers do a better job of instructing students, and by providing the 
resources desperately needed by our schools for even the most basic 
necessities to help put the reforms we passed into place.
  Regrettably, the high hopes that I and many others had for this law 
have not been realized. Throughout the years, this law has been 
implemented by the administration in a manner that is inflexible, 
unreasonable and unhelpful. As a result, it has failed the teachers, 
the schools, and, most importantly, the students it was meant to help.
  Worse still, this administration's promise of sufficient resources to 
implement the law is a promise that has yet to be kept. This year's 
budget proposal underfunds No Child Left Behind by almost $15 billion. 
Since passage five years ago, the administration has underfunded the 
law by more than $70 billion below the level promised when the 
President signed the Act into law.
  As a result of the failures of the current administration to fulfill 
its commitment to our Nation's school children under this law, children 
and their teachers are shouldering noteworthy hardships. Additional 
requirements without additional funding, and little,

[[Page S4923]]

if any, technical assistance from the Department, have left students, 
teachers, administrators and parents struggling to implement mandates 
that are often confusing, inflexible, unrealistic and costly. With the 
degree of underfunding that we have seen at the Federal level, many 
taxpayers are simultaneously paying for their mortgage, basic health 
care, the rising cost of their children's tuition and the Federal share 
of the No Child Left Behind Act.
  As I have said on numerous occasions in the past, resources without 
reforms are a waste of money. By the same token, reforms without 
resources are a false promise a false promise that has left students 
and their teachers grappling with new burdens and little help to bear 
them.
  The legislation I am introducing today proposes to make three changes 
to the No Child Left Behind Act. These changes will ease current 
burdens on our students, our teachers and our administrators without 
dismantling the fundamental underpinnings of the law.
  First, the No Child Left Behind Reform Act will allow schools to be 
given credit for performing well on measures other than test scores 
when calculating student achievement. Test scores are an important 
measure of student knowledge. However, they are not the only measure. 
There are others. These include dropout rates, the number of students 
who participate in advanced placement courses, and individual student 
improvement over time. Unfortunately, current law does not allow 
schools to use these additional ways to gauge school success in a 
constructive manner. Additional measures can only be used to further 
indicate how a school is failing, not how a school is succeeding. This 
legislation will allow schools to earn credit for succeeding.
  Second, the No Child Left Behind Reform Act will allow schools to 
target school choice and supplemental services to the students that 
actually demonstrate a need for them. As the current law is being 
implemented by the Administration, if a school is in need of 
improvement, it is expected to offer school choice and supplemental 
services to all students--even if not all students have demonstrated a 
need for them. That strikes me as a wasteful and imprecise way to help 
a school improve student performance. For that reason, this legislation 
will allow schools to target resources to the students that actually 
demonstrate that they need them. Clearly, this is the most efficient 
way to maximize their effect.
  Finally, the No Child Left Behind Reform Act introduces a greater 
degree of reasonableness to the teacher certification process. As it is 
being implemented, the law requires teachers to be ``highly qualified'' 
to teach every subject that they teach. Certainly none of us disagree 
with this policy as a matter of principle. But as a matter of practice, 
it is causing confusion and hardship for teachers, particularly 
secondary teachers and teachers in small school districts. For example, 
as the law is being implemented by the Administration, a high school 
science teacher could be required to hold degrees in biology, physics 
and chemistry to be considered highly qualified. In small schools where 
there may be only one 7th or 8th grade teacher teaching all subjects, 
these teachers could similarly be required to hold degrees in every 
subject area. Such requirements are unreasonable at a time when 
excellent teachers are increasingly hard to find. The legislation I 
introduce today will allow States to create a single assessment to 
cover multiple subjects for middle grade level teachers and allow 
states to issue a broad certification for science and social studies.
  In my view, the changes I propose will provide significant assistance 
to schools struggling to comply with the No Child Left Behind law all 
across America. As time marches on and more deadlines set by this law 
come and go including additional testing, a highly qualified teacher in 
every classroom and 100 percent proficiency for all students--we have a 
responsibility to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act in a manner 
that will require it to be implemented in a fair and reasonable manner. 
I would caution that in doing so, however, we must also preserve the 
basic tenets of the law--providing a high quality education for all 
American students and closing the achievement gap across demographic 
and socioeconomic lines. Again, no child should left behind--no special 
education student, no English language learning student, no minority 
student and no low-income student. I stand by this commitment.
  Obviously, funding this law is beyond the scope of this bill. I would 
note, however, that I will continue my efforts to direct increased 
funds to the law. Clearly, our children deserve the resources needed to 
make their dreams for a better education a reality. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in supporting this important reform legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1194

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``No Child Left Behind Reform 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS.

       (a) Definition of Adequate Yearly Progress.--Section 
     1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
     1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (C)(vii)--
       (A) by striking ``such as'';
       (B) by inserting ``such as measures of individual or cohort 
     growth over time based on the academic assessments 
     implemented in accordance with paragraph (3),'' after 
     ``described in clause (v),''; and
       (C) by striking ``attendance rates,''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (D)--
       (A) by striking clause (ii);
       (B) by striking ``the State'' and all that follows through 
     ``ensure'' and inserting ``the State shall ensure''; and
       (C) by striking ``; and'' and inserting a period.
       (b) Academic Assessment and Local Educational Agency and 
     School Improvement.--Section 1116(a)(1)(B) of the Elementary 
     and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(a)(1)(B)) 
     is amended by striking ``, except that'' and all that follows 
     through ``action or restructuring''.

     SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INCREASING DATA CAPACITY FOR PURPOSES OF 
                   AYP.

       Subpart 1 of part A of title I of the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 1120C. GRANTS FOR INCREASING DATA CAPACITY FOR 
                   PURPOSES OF AYP.

       ``(a) Grant Authority.--The Secretary may award grants, on 
     a competitive basis, to State educational agencies to enable 
     the State educational agencies--
       ``(1) to develop or increase the capacity of data systems 
     for accountability purposes; and
       ``(2) to award subgrants to increase the capacity of local 
     educational agencies to upgrade, create, or manage 
     information databases for the purpose of measuring adequate 
     yearly progress.
       ``(b) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section the 
     Secretary shall give priority to State educational agencies 
     that have created, or are in the process of creating, a 
     growth model or proficiency index as part of their adequate 
     yearly progress determination.
       ``(c) State Use of Funds.--Each State that receives a grant 
     under this section shall use--
       ``(1) not more than 20 percent of the grant funds for the 
     purpose of increasing the capacity of, or creating, State 
     databases to collect information related to adequate yearly 
     progress; and
       ``(2) not less than 80 percent of the grant funds to award 
     subgrants to local educational agencies within the State to 
     enable the local educational agencies to carry out the 
     authorized activities described in subsection (d).
       ``(d) Authorized Activities.--Each local educational agency 
     that receives a subgrant under this section shall use the 
     subgrant funds to increase the capacity of the local 
     educational agency to upgrade databases or create unique 
     student identifiers for the purpose of measuring adequate 
     yearly progress, by--
       ``(1) purchasing database software or hardware;
       ``(2) hiring additional staff for the purpose of managing 
     such data;
       ``(3) providing professional development or additional 
     training for such staff; and
       ``(4) providing professional development or training for 
     principals and teachers on how to effectively use such data 
     to implement instructional strategies to improve student 
     achievement.
       ``(e) State Application.--Each State educational agency 
     desiring a grant under this section shall submit an 
     application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 
     and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
       ``(f) LEA Application.--Each local educational agency 
     desiring a subgrant under this section shall submit an 
     application to the State educational agency at such time, in 
     such manner, and containing such information as the State 
     educational agency may

[[Page S4924]]

     require. Each such application shall include, at a minimum, a 
     demonstration of the local educational agency's ability to 
     put such a database in place.
       ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part 
     $80,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010.''

     SEC. 4. TARGETING TRANSFER OPTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL SERVICES.

       (a) Targeting Transfer Options and Supplemental Services.--
     Section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
     1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316) is amended--
       (1) in paragraphs (1)(E)(i), (5)(A), (7)(C)(i), and 
     (8)(A)(i) of subsection (b), by striking the term ``all 
     students enrolled in the school'' each place such term 
     appears and inserting ``all students enrolled in the school, 
     who are members of a group described in section 
     1111(b)(2)(C)(v) that fails to make adequate yearly progress 
     as defined in the State's plan under section 1111(b)(2),'';
       (2) in subsection (b)(1), by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(G) Maintenance of least restrictive environment.--A 
     student who is eligible to receive services under the 
     Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and who uses the 
     option to transfer under subparagraph (E), paragraph (5)(A), 
     (7)(C)(i), or (8)(A)(i), or subsection (c)(10)(C)(vii), shall 
     be placed and served in the least restrictive environment 
     appropriate, in accordance with the Individuals with 
     Disabilities Education Act.'';
       (3) in clause (vii) of subsection (c)(10)(C), by inserting 
     ``, who are members of a group described in section 
     1111(b)(2)(C)(v) that fails to make adequate yearly progress 
     as defined in the State's plan under section 1111(b)(2),'' 
     after ``Authorizing students''; and
       (4) in subparagraph (A) of subsection (e)(12), by inserting 
     ``, who is a member of a group described in section 
     1111(b)(2)(C)(v) that fails to make adequate yearly progress 
     as defined in the State's plan under section 1111(b)(2)'' 
     after ``under section 1113(c)(1)''.
       (b) Student Already Transferred.--A student who transfers 
     to another public school pursuant to section 1116(b) of the 
     Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
     6316(b)) before the effective date of this section and the 
     amendments made by this section, may continue enrollment in 
     such public school after the effective date of this section 
     and the amendments made by this section.
       (c) Effective Date.--This section and the amendments made 
     by this section shall be effective for each fiscal year for 
     which the amount appropriated to carry out title I of the 
     Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the fiscal 
     year, is less than the amount authorized to be appropriated 
     to carry out such title for the fiscal year.

     SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS.

       Section 9101(23)(B)(ii) of the Elementary and Secondary Act 
     of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(23)(B)(ii)) is amended--
       (1) in subclause (I), by striking ``or'' after the 
     semicolon;
       (2) in subclause (II), by striking ``and'' after the 
     semicolon; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:

       ``(III) in the case of a middle school teacher, passing a 
     State approved middle school generalist exam when the teacher 
     receives the teacher's license to teach middle school in the 
     State;
       ``(IV) obtaining a State social studies certificate that 
     qualifies the teacher to teach history, geography, economics, 
     and civics in middle or secondary schools, respectively, in 
     the State; or
       ``(V) obtaining a State science certificate that qualifies 
     the teacher to teach earth science, biology, chemistry, and 
     physics in middle or secondary schools, respectively, in the 
     State; and''.

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