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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
245 |
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TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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RESOLUTION
requesting the united states congress to amend the no child left behind act OF 2001 according to the recommendations of the final report of the national conference of state legislatures' task force on no child left behind.
WHEREAS, in 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was enacted on a bipartisan basis and signed into law by President George W. Bush; and
WHEREAS, all states that accept federal Title I education funds, including Hawaii, are subject to the requirements of the Act; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Act is to compel all public schools to make adequate yearly progress toward the goal of 100 percent student proficiency in math and reading by 2013-2014; and
WHEREAS, these expectations are unreasonable for students with limited English proficiency and students with disabilities, making it impossible for many of Hawaii's schools, that have a high population of these students, to comply with the law; and
WHEREAS, the Act does not allow states that may already have successful accountability systems in place to use their system to comply with the spirit of the Act; and
WHEREAS, states should be allowed to use a value-added or student growth approach in their state accountability plan; and
WHEREAS, the Act is an under-funded mandate that causes states and school districts to spend more money than the amounts appropriated by Congress to implement the Act; and
WHEREAS, the Act coerces participation by placing punitive
financial consequences on states that refuse to participate; and
WHEREAS, in 2004, the National Conference of State Legislatures created a bipartisan task force to study the Act, resulting in suggestions for specific changes to make the Act more workable, more responsive to variations among the states, and more effective in improving elementary education; and
WHEREAS, the recommendations of the task force's February 2005 Final Report include the following:
(1) Substantially increasing federal funding for the Act;
(2) Reexamining the financial consequences for states that choose not to participate;
(3) Reevaluating the 100 percent proficiency goal established by the Act;
(4) Conducting a Government Accountability Office study of the compliance and proficiency costs associated with the Act;
(5) Giving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act primacy over the Act in cases where these laws may conflict; and
(6) Providing states with much greater flexibility to meet the objectives of the adequate yearly progress provisions of the Act; and
WHEREAS, although the Act aims to provide flexibility for states to improve academic achievement and to close the achievement gap, the task force found that little flexibility has been granted to states to implement the Act; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the United States Congress is respectfully requested to amend the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 according to the recommendations of the February 2005 Final Report of the National Conference of State Legislatures' Task Force on No Child Left Behind; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the current law and any revisions thereof recognize that under our federal system of government, education is primarily a state and local responsibility; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is requested to allow states more flexibility to continue to work toward the goal of closing the achievement gap without the threat of losing federal funds; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is requested to appropriate federal funding in amounts consistent with the levels authorized in the Act for education programs and expanded information systems needed to accurately reflect student, school, and school district performance and to pay the costs of ensuring student proficiency; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is requested to authorize appropriate assessment methods and an alternative methodology for determining adequate yearly progress targets and progress for students who are not yet proficient in English and who have certain disabilities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is requested to amend the No Child Left Behind Act's current provisions relating to adequate yearly progress to apply sanctions only when the same groups or subgroups within a grade level fail to meet adequate yearly progress targets in the same subject area for two consecutive years; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is requested to amend the Act to allow flexibility in:
(1) Determining adequate yearly progress using models that measure individual student growth or growth in the same cohort of students from year to year;
(2) Calculating adequate yearly progress for students belonging to multiple groups and subgroups; and
(3) Determining whether certain categories of teachers, such as special education teachers, are highly qualified; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is requested to modify the No Child Left Behind Act's provisions relating to school choice by limiting the option only to those students whose performance is consistently below the proficiency level; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President and Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.
Report Title:
Urging Amendments to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001