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Idahoans balk at no child left behind { March 8 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Mar/03082004/utah/145745.asphttp://www.sltrib.com/2004/Mar/03082004/utah/145745.asp
MONDAY March 08, 2004
Idahoans balk at No Child Left Behind
By Rebecca Boone
The Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho -- Kelly Murphey and his crew of volunteers often stand at the entrance to Castleford School's ball games, handing out fliers to parents.
One side of the paper explains the challenges the tiny school faces under the No Child Left Behind Act. The other urges parents to write letters to lawmakers asking for changes to the federal law.
The grassroots effort has provoked community interest while educating residents about the plight of public education, said Murphey, the district's superintendent.
"People are very interested, and extremely well-informed at this point in time because of this, and I think that the community has also embraced the future of the school now. That's been a great thing," Murphey said. "We have some letters going and some phone calls going to legislators now."
He hopes that will provoke state and federal leaders to adjust the standards that many in Idaho, as well as in other states, including Utah, say are well-intentioned but nearly impossible to meet.
"I don't hear people saying they're against the concept, just that it needs to be tweaked in the sense of fairness," Murphey said.
The No Child Left Behind Act is the centerpiece of President Bush's education agenda. It mandates that all children must be at grade level in reading and math by 2014 -- regardless of their language ability, background or disability. Proponents say it brings accountability to a national education system and ensures that all children will have similar opportunities.
Schools that fail to meet performance targets are listed as "needing improvement," and parents at those schools may transfer their children to a different school. If schools receiving federal Title I dollars for disadvantaged children do not meet the standards, they face a spiraling list of sanctions and can eventually be shut down.
This fall, more than a third of schools did not meet annual yearly progress requirements, State Schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard said earlier this year.
Murphey said the schools have not been given enough money to make the necessary improvements.
"We believe it's nothing less than cruel to test students who transfer into our district not speaking English. You can't fund the remediation in the summer that you need to get these kids immediately up to speed," he said. "It's not fair for schools to get punished for that."
Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok in the Bush administration said the No Child Left Behind plan will have flexibility so that it can be adapted to specific issues facing schools in each state. But he also reiterated the importance of the initiative to overall improvement of public education.
"For the schools that are successful, let's celebrate them, emulate them," he said. "Where we're not having success, let's not close our eyes to it."
The controversial law has prompted many Idaho schools to take grassroots-style action.
The Boundary School District's Web site offers a long guide on framing the No Child Left Behind Act for community discussion. It contains tips for school leaders, warning them not to use jargon and suggesting replacement terms such as "grade-level achievement" instead of "proficiency."
"Avoid labeling schools as 'failing,' " the site advises. "Commend schools that are making good progress -- even if they haven't made AYP [Adequate Yearly Progress]."
Jenny Lundack, the principal of both Naples Elementary and Riverside Alternative High School, is also Boundary County's Title I director.
"I hope it helps parents understand that this law in its current form is not helpful to them," she said.
Lundack, like many educators, takes issue with the law's emphasis on grade level achievement instead of a focus on how individual students improve over time.
"You can't predict when a child is going to move in, when a parent is going to die or when parents are going to get divorced. Are you going to make all kids potty train at the same time, walk at the same time, talk at the same time? There are circumstances beyond our control," she said.
Lundack has also joined in one petition against the law and another that aims to increase state funding for schools.
Kathy Phelan, president of the Idaho Education Association teachers' union, said other districts are mobilizing as well. As districts take local action, Phelan said, her association is moving at the state level.
The association has joined with conservative lawmakers and other education groups and drafted a message to Congress asking for more flexibility. If approved by the state Legislature, the joint memorial will be sent to Bush.
Other states have already taken stands against the law. In Utah, a bill that would have effectively removed the state from the No Child Left Behind Act made it through the state House of Representatives and a Senate committee before the full Senate voted to study it over the summer.
Some school districts in Pennsylvania have filed suit in state court to force the state to pay the costs of complying with the law.
"We're in danger of making the test the education," Phelan said. "This law has the potential of making public education look like a colossal failure."
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