ESEA Updates

NEA Update

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA/NCLB), has produced many unintended and unfavorable consequences for students, parents and educators across the country.  NEA offers these principles for ESEA reauthorization and encourage Congress to listen to the voices of educators in developing legislative proposals:

• The federal government should serve as a partner to support state efforts to transform public schools.
• A reauthorized ESEA must ensure that all children, especially the disadvantaged, have access to an education that will prepare them to succeed in the 21st Century.
• A revamped accountability system must correctly identify schools in need of assistance and provide a system of effective interventions to help them succeed.
• Teachers and other staff must be provided supports and resources to help students succeed.
• The federal govenment should be require states to detail how they will remedy inequities in educational tools, opportunities and resources.
• Targeted programs that support special needs students and schools should be maintained and expanded.
• The federal government should serve as a clearinghouse, making available to educators a wealth of knowledge about how best to teach students and help schools improve practices.

Podcast:  Joel Packer, NEA's NCLB expert answers your questions.  Joel is NEA's top lobbyist on NCLB and provides an opportunity to answer your questions about the law's impact, insanity and offers some ideas for improvement.  Click here. . .

Additional Resources and Links:

• Achieve.org
  Achieve, Inc., is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit organization that helps states raise academic standards, measure performance against those standards, establish clear accountability for results and strengthen public confidence in our education system.
  
• NEA
  This site contains a plethora of information on ESEA. It includes activities in which you can participate to influence Congress to legislate changes in the current law.
  
• West Virginia Achieves
  This is the official West Virginia Department of Education Website specifically created for the implementation of ESEA/NCLB. The site contains recent workshop information that is targeted specifically to West Virginia teachers, parents and students.
  
• WV Office of Student Assessment Services
  This West Virginia Department of Education Website contains WESTEST information, testing calendar and assessment results.
  
• No Child Left Behind
  This is the official U.S. Department of Education site created expressly for No Child Left Behind. This site has the federal government slant on legislation. It is specifically aimed at parents.