[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8165-8167]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               EDUCATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, as we honor and celebrate America's teachers 
on National Teacher Appreciation Day, I thought it would be appropriate 
to say a few words about the state of education in my home State of 
Nevada.
  I had an eye-opening meeting recently with the school superintendents

[[Page 8166]]

from all corners of Nevada, and they shared the challenges that 
teachers and students face each day and ideas on what we can do to 
improve education. With only 17 school districts in the State, we have 
a unique situation where our education leaders can come together--in 
one room and around one table--for a discussion of the issues that 
concern them.
  Even more remarkable is the unique diversity of Nevada's school 
districts. Our 17 school districts range from one of the Nation's 
largest and most diverse, Clark County, to vast, rural Esmeralda 
County, which has less than 100 students in the entire district. Such 
diversity makes Nevada a microcosm of the Nation and provides a 
snapshot of the varied needs of teachers and students across the 
country.
  I met with many of the same superintendents during the early years of 
No Child Left Behind implementation to discuss the difficulties that 
their school districts were having in meeting the requirements of the 
new law.
  When NCLB was passed, there were many who lauded President Bush's 
commitment to education. After all, who among us would allow any child 
to slip through the cracks in our education system if we could prevent 
it? None of us would do that. And at the time, many thought that this 
sweeping legislation would fill those gaps. Unfortunately, this hasn't 
been the case.
  My own State of Nevada has suffered under the burden of unfunded 
mandates and punitive measures this law has imposed. But I want to give 
our educators in Nevada credit: from our teachers to our 
superintendents, they have all tried hard to comply with this law.
  They have robbed Peter to pay Paul with their budgets. They have 
compromised on teaching art and history classes. They have shortened 
the time allotted for recess. And they have even tacked on extra 
reading or math classes.
  Instead of resisting these requirements, they have tried to work 
within it, and I commend them for their unified efforts. But there is 
only so much they can do with a flawed law.
  To be sure, Nevada isn't the only State that has struggled under this 
law. It is a national problem. School districts across the country are 
already trying to juggle school construction costs, increasing 
graduation rates, finding money for textbooks, reducing class sizes, 
and figuring out what to do about overcrowded high schools.
  But, now, in its fourth year of implementation, most of us have heard 
similar stories about the many problems with No Child Left Behind.
  So with an eye toward authorization of NCLB, I asked to meet with the 
State's school superintendents once again, not so much to discuss 
problems with the law, but, rather, ways to improve it and make it more 
responsive to the needs of our students and teachers. One after the 
other, these educators gave examples of how changes, some minor and 
others much larger, to the No Child Left Behind Act could help them to 
reach its stated goal.
  No Child Left Behind is based on the premise that we can track the 
progress of every school by using a one-size-fits-all approach, 
including standardized tests. And what I heard from these 
superintendents was that their problems aren't standardized--so a one-
size-fits-all approach doesn't always work.
  In Clark County, Carla Steinforth talked about accommodating the more 
than 12,000 students that move into the county each year by building a 
school nearly every month.
  Another of the more pervasive challenges that Nevada as a whole, and 
Clark County in particular, face: the influx of students who are not 
native English-speakers. There are so many children entering our public 
schools who don't speak English that--under the NCLB--most of our 
public schools will eventually be on the ``watch-list'' or considered a 
``failing school.''
  One idea to deal with the district's growing and constantly changing 
student population was to implement a ``growth model'' or 
accountability. Under such a model, student progress would be measured 
from year to year, rather than by measuring 1 year of student 
performance to another, as is currently being done. Keith Rheault, the 
State superintendent of education, said Nevada is pursuing this idea, 
under a pilot program that opens up this possibility to just a few 
States. Everyone, it seems, with the exception of the Federal 
Government, has recognized the need for greater flexibility under CLB.
  A neighboring school system, Nye County, is growing but at a much 
slower rate than Clark County. Nye County is the largest school 
district in the continental United States. The superintendent, Rob 
Roberts, talked about the morale of many of the students, teachers, and 
parents, when their school has been labeled as a ``failing school.''
  In rural Mineral County, Superintendent Steven Cook discussed the 
difficulty the district has had in retaining and attracting special 
education teachers. He talked about the need for greater flexibility 
for rural counties with teacher qualification requirements in NCLB. The 
superintendent of White Pine County, Bob Dolezal, concurred and shared 
the challenges of ensuring that his high school teaching staff of five, 
who each have taught multiple subjects, would be considered ``highly 
qualified'' to teach all subjects.
  Make no mistake about it: The issue is not whether teachers in rural 
areas should be qualified to teach multiple subjects--they should. 
However, requiring them to attain ``highly qualified'' status in all 
subjects simultaneously is unreasonable.
  In other counties, like Douglas County, they have actually seen 
enrollment decline, as housing costs drove families to less expensive 
areas. Yet the district has had increased expenses because of onerous 
NCLB requirements. The superintendent, John Soderman, said he 
appreciates the accountability principles in the law but also talked 
about the negative implications of the law's punitive nature.
  Mary Pierczynski in Carson City cited NCLB's effect on thinking and 
creativity. They have over 200 days of curriculum to teach but with 
only 180 days of school. And standardized testing is taking up more 10 
days of that time.
  In Humboldt County, it is difficult to get qualified 
paraprofessionals, and additional requirements will leave many of the 
schools without aides. Superintendent Charlotte Peterson said that the 
only other option would be to bring them in from many miles away.
  In Eureka County, where there are just a few hundred students, Ben 
Zunino talked about a feeling of inevitability for schools to be 
labeled as failing and how one student's performance can often make the 
difference between a school being labeled as high achieving or needs 
improvement. To improve this, Lincoln County Superintendent Rick Hardy 
suggested counting the percentage of students who move into proficiency 
as a way of recognizing improvement and the hard work of teachers and 
students.
  In Storey County, Rob Slaby is fretful about the time for history and 
arts that has been lost to testing and preparation for these tests and 
suggested some kind of credit for these important subjects.
  Dottie Merrill from Washoe County, the State's second largest school 
district, suggested that students who are English-learners not be 
included in testing until they have been in the United States for a few 
years, as opposed to 1 year, as is currently in the law. This would 
give schools the time necessary to help these students transition to 
school in the United States.
  Nearly all superintendents mentioned the struggle to pay for the 
basics, like school buses and supplies, with the ever-increasing costs 
of NCLB requirements. If the Federal Government would fully fund NCLB, 
as it had promised, it would alleviate some of these hardships.
  As an example, many of the districts mentioned the cost to provide 
transportation for their increasingly scattered student population. In 
many rural counties, where some students travel up to 150 miles a day 
for school, transportation expenses can be upwards of 70 percent of the 
budget. Many districts have had to cut some special events because of 
rising transportation

[[Page 8167]]

costs, and all were concerned about the amount school bus costs and 
high gas prices will cut into their overall budgets.
  I have touched on just a few of the problems with the No Child Left 
Behind Act and some of the ways educators in Nevada have suggested to 
improve it. It is going to take a lot of hard work to make it what it 
promised to be: a tool that will help the teachers and students in 
every public school in America.
  Today, as we honor the Nation's teachers for their work and 
dedication, we must ensure that we keep our promise to America's 
students. We can't afford to leave them behind.

                          ____________________