[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E691-E692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE INTRODUCTION OF THE EVERY STUDENT COUNTS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 17, 2009

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
``Every Student Counts Act,'' legislation that will prioritize 
graduation of all of our Nation's high school students. My friend, 
Senator Tom Harkin, the Senator from Iowa, is also introducing this 
legislation in the Senate.
  Madam Speaker, as you know in 2001, The No Child Left Behind Act 
passed with broad bipartisan support. The purpose of No Child Left 
Behind was to ensure that every student in America would receive a 
quality education. However, over the past eight years, NCLB has not 
lived up to its promises. Certain aspects of the law are difficult to 
implement and are not bringing about the results we thought it would. 
One of the major shortcomings of NCLB is its failure to hold schools 
accountable for dropouts. Although we believed we addressed this issue 
in the original NCLB legislation, this portion of the law has not been 
implemented as we had hoped. Instead, under current law, the only 
meaningful accountability standard for high schools is students' scores 
on standardized tests, with virtually no concern given to how many 
students graduate or drop out of school. Unfortunately, this myopic 
accountability standard has created an incentive for high schools to 
push out students who are struggling academically, so that their test 
scores are not counted in the assessments. Furthermore, the current 
accountability system also has allowed States to report graduation 
rates inconsistently and in misleading ways. Finally, NCLB does not 
require the disaggregation of graduation rates by subgroup, leading to 
incomplete data on how our schools are doing with one subgroup compared 
to others.
  What is clear is the fact that the current high school accountability 
system is failing both our students and our Nation. Each year, about 
1.23 million secondary school students, approximately one-third of all 
secondary school students, fail to graduate with their peers. In 
addition, nearly 2,000 secondary schools--roughly 12 percent of all 
secondary schools in the United States--produce about half of the 
Nation's secondary school dropouts. In these schools, the number of 
seniors is routinely 60 percent or less than the number of freshmen 
three years earlier. And almost half of the Nation's African-American 
students and nearly 40 percent of Latino students attend these so 
called ``dropout factories,'' while only 11 percent of white students 
do.
  In Virginia last year, nearly 30,000 students did not graduate from 
high school with their peers. But the numbers are worse for 
minorities--only about 50 percent of African American students and 60 
percent of Hispanic students graduate on time with a regular diploma, 
compared to 75 percent of whites.
  These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Research shows that 
the lifetime earnings difference between a high school dropout and a 
high school graduate is about $260,000. This loss in potential earnings 
of a dropout can cause serious hardships throughout their lifetime. We 
cannot sit back and allow this problem to escalate, or our inaction 
will create a generation of lower and stagnant earnings and a poorer 
quality of life. We must reverse this trend and hold schools 
accountable for graduation rates and dropouts, so all students are 
graduating with a high school diploma and improving their outcomes in 
life.
  Additionally, reducing dropouts improves America's position in both 
the global economy and workforce. Attaining a high school diploma is 
the first step in becoming a member of the educated workforce. Having 
unprepared workers sets us back considerably, diminishing our role as a 
global leader in the economy. The major competitive advantage America 
has in the global economy is an educated workforce. Yet, with an 
estimated 3.5 million Americans ages 16 to 25 who do not have a high 
school diploma and are not enrolled in school, we are slowly losing 
this advantage. Because of the need for well-educated workers to keep 
our country competitive, we can't allow--or afford--our Nation's high 
school students to dropout and not reach their full potential.
  Until recently, federal policy did not place nearly enough importance 
on graduating the Nation's high school students. The regulations 
released by the Department of Education in October 2008 did much to 
correct the lack of attention to graduation rates in the federal 
accountability system: they require a uniform graduation rate 
calculation and improvement in graduation rates over time. Though these 
regulations are a laudable step in the right direction, they do not go 
far enough in setting consistent, high graduation rate goals and 
aggressive, attainable graduation rate growth targets. Without clear 
guidance and meaningful accountability, most secondary schools can 
continue to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress, AYP, by making negligible 
annual improvement in graduation rates and can do so with a consistent, 
or even growing, graduation gap.

  The Every Student Counts Act will bring meaningful accountability to 
America's high schools by requiring a consistent and accurate 
calculation of graduation rates across all fifty states to ensure 
comparability and transparency. The legislation builds on the National 
Governors Association's Graduation Rate Compact, which was signed by 
all 50 of the Nation's governors in 2005. Under the Every Student 
Counts Act, graduation rates and test scores are treated equally in AYP 
determinations. Moreover, the Every Student Counts Act would require 
high schools to have aggressive, attainable and uniform annual growth 
requirements as part of AYP. This will ensure consistent increases to 
graduation rates for all students by meeting annual, research-based 
benchmarks with the long-term goal of reaching a 90 percent graduation 
rate. The bill would also require the disaggregation of graduation data 
by subgroup to make certain that schools are held accountable for 
increasing the graduation rate for all of our students and require that 
school improvement activities focus on closing any achievement gaps.
  Recognizing that some small numbers of students take longer than four 
years to graduate, the bill will give credit to schools, school 
districts and states for graduating these students while maintaining 
the primacy of graduating the great preponderance of all students in 
four years. The Every Student Counts Act will provide incentives for 
schools, districts and states to create programs to serve students

[[Page E692]]

who have already dropped out and are over-age or under credited. Some 
credit has to be given to those who get a GED and also those who take 
more than one or two years and maybe even three years longer than 
others to graduate. If no credit is given, the school system has no 
incentive to continue these important programs.
  In order to truly ensure that all children have access to a quality 
education, it is imperative that we take steps to immediately end 
America's dropout crisis. We must ensure not only that graduation rates 
increase, but that earning a high school diploma is a meaningful 
accomplishment. We must use the indicators of student achievement and 
graduation to know which high schools are doing their job. Those who 
are must be recognized and supported. Those that are not must be 
rehabilitated with targeted interventions, whole school reform, or 
replacement strategies to ensure the standard of accountability with 
graduation rates and standardized tests are met.
  Making sure accountability with graduation rates and standardized 
testing are met, Virginia's education leaders and the Virginia State 
Board of Education recently became the first state to give equal 
consideration to dropout rates and standardized tests when judging AYP. 
The new standard in Virginia will take effect with the start of the 
2011-2012 school years. It also sets an 85 percent graduation rate, 
well above the dreadful benchmark of 61 percent set for Virginia under 
the No Child Left Behind Act.
  It is my hope that with the Every Student Counts Act, we can make 
greater strides nationally toward graduating more of America's students 
and preparing them to succeed in college, the workplace and in life. 
So, I ask my colleagues to join me in passing this bill and seeing to 
it that it is quickly enacted into law to ensure, at a minimum, every 
child becomes a high school graduate.

                          ____________________