Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110, 8 January 2002) is the seventh incarnation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. As such, it establishes spending authority for U.S. government programs to support K-12 schooling (except in the areas of vocational and special education). Although federal funding represents less than 8 percent of the total cost of elementary and secondary education in the United States, federal mandates and control have proliferated under NCLB.

As a legal matter, Congress must act to reauthorize – or at least temporarily extend – NCLB by 30 September 2007. If it failed to meet this deadline, federal spending authority would expire.

No comprehensive proposals to reauthorize NCLB have yet been introduced in the 110th Congress. Watch for major bills to be introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, and Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, probably by late spring. Extensive hearings are expected to begin soon.

Here is a selection of NCLB-related proposals (with sponsors) introduced thus far.

110th Congress
S. 893 – Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (A-PLUS) Act (DeMint, 15 March 2007)
H.R. 1539 – Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (A-PLUS) Act (Hoekstra, 15 March 2007)
Would allow states to receive Title I funding while opting out of most NCLB requirements and allow them to design their own accountability systems; cosponsored by 51 Republicans in the House, 4 in the Senate.

H.R. 1169 – Student Achievement and Successful Schools Act of 2007 (McCollum of Minnesota, 16 February 2007)
Would introduce longitudinal measures and other minor changes in calculating adequate yearly progress.

H.R. 684 – Keeping Our Promises to America's Children Act of 2007 (Moore of Kansas, 24 January 2007)
Would require full funding of Title I, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

H.R. 648 – No Child Left Behind Improvements Act of 2007 (Young, 23 January 2007)
Would require greater flexibility in measuring adequate yearly progress; allow former ELLs to be counted for AYP purposes for up to 3 years; slightly ease sanctions for schools failing to make AYP; and extend testing and reporting requirements to private schools.

H.R. 627 – Keep Our PACT Act (Van Hollen, 22 January 2007)
Would require full funding for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

S. 348 – Improving No Child Left Behind Act (Crapo, 22 January 2007)
Would slightly loosen testing requirements for English language learners and students with disabilities.

H.R. 209 – To authorize the appropriation of funds to be used to recruit, hire, and train 100,000 new classroom paraprofessionals in order to improve educational achievement for children (Serrano, 4 January 2007)

109th Congress
S. 4064 – No Child Left Behind Improvements Act of 2006 (Crapo, 16 November 2006)
Would "codify" Bush administration regulations allowing schools to exempt ELLs from language arts testing for their first 12 months in U.S. schools; count former ELLs in AYP calculations for up to 3 years; and make other minor changes, such as not counting students in multiple subgroups and requiring 90% (instead of 95%) of each subgroup to be tested.

H.R. 5709 – No Child Left Behind Improvements Act of 2006 (Young, 28 June 2006)
Would introduce growth measures and added flexibility in calculating AYP, limit the imposition of sanctions on failing schools, and allow alternate assessments for ELLs for up to 3 years; drafted by the National School Boards Association.

S. 1690 – No Child Left Behind Flexibility and Improvements Act (Collins, 13 September 2005)
Would allow former ELLs to be counted through the end of secondary school for AYP purposes.

H.R. 2835 – Teacher Excellence for All Children (TEACH) Act (Miller, 9 June 2005)
Would provide grants of up to $4,000 to undergraduate and graduate students in "high need" fields including ELL education; additional grants to institutions of higher education to support teacher preparation programs in these areas; and various provisions to foster teacher recruitment and retention, including loan forgiveness, and to encourage highly qualified teachers to work in "high need" schools.

H.R. 1506 – No Child Left Behind Reform Act (DeLauro, 6 April 2005)
S. 724 – No Child Left Behind Reform Act (Dodd, 6 April 2005)
Would include achievement growth in AYP calculations, authorize grants to help school districts improve their data systems, and limit supplemental services to students from underachieving subgroups.

H.R. 1177 – State and Local Education Flexibility Act of 2005 (Terry, 8 March 2005)
Would allow states to give school districts flexibility in designing accountability systems, an approach pioneered in Nebraska, and to exempt ELLs from AYP calculations if students have been enrolled in a school for less than 3 years

S. 15 – Quality Education for All Act (Bingaman, 24 January 2005)
Would give school districts greater flexibility in calculating "adequate yearly progress" for students; extend civil rights laws and highly qualified teacher provisions to supplemental service providers; and authorize grants to state education agencies to develop more valid and reliable assessments for English language learners.

H.R. 224 – Comprehensive Learning and Assessment for Students and Schools (CLASS) Act (Strickland, 4 January 2005)
Would prohibit the use of a single test score for high-stakes purposes and require schools to be rated on the basis of multiple measures, including grades and dropout rates. Would also give credit for improvements in student achievement rather only for reaching arbitrary AYP targets.