Regulatory Improvements, Not Legislative Changes, Anticipated
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders from both parties, the state
and federal governments, and the business community gave a strong endorsement
today to the No Child Left Behind Act as a major driving force for educational
improvement, but acknowledged that implementation is challenging.
Their comments came at the third annual forum sponsored by Business
Roundtable at the National Press Club entitled, "The Administration, the
Congress and the States: What's Ahead for No Child Left Behind?"
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-
MA), Representative Michael Castle (R-DE), Mississippi State Superintendent
Henry Johnson, Assistant U.S. Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education
Ray Simon, and Joseph Tucci, President and CEO of EMC Corporation and Chairman
of Business Roundtable's Education and the Workforce Task Force, spoke at the
event.
"No Child Left Behind says every child has the right to a quality
education and a chance to succeed," Spellings said. "Accountability plus high
expectations plus resources equal results. Test scores are rising and the
achievement gap is beginning to close."
Tucci said, "We want the United States to have nothing less than the
strongest economy and most skilled workers in the world." No Child Left
Behind "has given public education in America a foundation for improvement,"
Tucci said. "Business Roundtable believes it is time to build on that
foundation with a dramatic, increased commitment to math and science."
Kennedy called for greater investment in math and science to "meet the
challenge of globalization." He also said he wanted to work with the
Administration in the area of early education, citing research on the
importance of child development from birth through age five.
Asked by the forum's moderator, Richard Whitmire, editorial writer for USA
Today, to grade No Child Left Behind, Kennedy, Castle, and Johnson all gave it
high marks. Kennedy gave the law an A in concept and an incomplete on
funding; Castle gave it an A; and Johnson's grade was A in concept and B or B+
in implementation.
Castle said the law strikes "a reasonable balance in terms of where we
have to go."
Johnson said he was "unabashedly a supporter of No Child Left Behind --
not because it's perfect, but because it's right."
"Not to support it would make me a hypocrite," he said. "For years
educators have said there is no excuse for not learning. No Child Left Behind
says, 'that's right.' We expect, regardless of extraneous factors, high
levels of attainment from all children."
"The underlying principle is that adults should not make excuses for lack
of student success," Johnson said.
Kennedy and Castle agreed that any improvements to No Child Left Behind
should be through regulation, not legislation, before it is reauthorized.
The subject of high school reform also was prominent.
"We must continue to pay attention to grades 3-8, but we must also finish
the job and build on that work in high schools," Spellings said. She pointed
to the vast amount of spending by American companies and universities "to help
kids catch up."
"We need to restore the value of a high school diploma," Spellings said.
Castle expressed strong support for high school reform but cautioned
against funding President Bush's initiative for high schools "on the back of
vocational education."
Asked about granting waivers from No Child Left Behind, Simon said, if we
"hand them out, we will be back in ESEA (the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act), the 'we didn't mean it law.' We don't want a generation of
children 'waived away' from academic excellence," he added.
Asked what they thought would happen when National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) results are released later this year, panelists
all predicted a rise in those scores.
"We will see a narrowing of the (achievement) gap, but we will still have
a long way to go," Simon said.
A complete transcript of the forum will be available at
http://www.businessroundtable.org.
Business Roundtable (http://www.businessroundtable.org) is an association
of chief executive officers of leading corporations with a combined workforce
of more than 10 million employees in the United States and $4 trillion in
annual revenues. The chief executives are committed to advocating public
policies that foster vigorous economic growth, a dynamic global economy, and a
well-trained and productive U.S. workforce essential for future
competitiveness.
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