Reform of ‘No Child Left Behind’ starts in Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS — Federal officials signaled over the weekend that the next big legislative push will be an overhaul of Pres. George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” educational policies. Because U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa leads the influential Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee, Iowans were afforded the first opportunity to speak out on the proposed changes tentatively announced only 24 hours earlier.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (photo courtesy of U.S. Dept. of Education).

Harkin, U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Mt. Vernon, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted a panel of regional individuals at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids on Sunday. The event served as the first roundtable discussion on the proposed changes, and those in attendance were afforded an opportunity to ask questions and make comments. The officials also planned to host a second discussion in Des Moines on Sunday.

During his weekly address on Saturday, President Barack Obama introduced a blueprint for reform, noting that the name of the program will be officially reversed to its former moniker, “The Elementary and Secondary Education Act.” The name change is key, Duncan said, because the phrase “No Child Left Behind” embodied a policy that many felt was divisive. Opponents have long criticized the policy for encouraging and forcing a “teach the test” approach, narrowing curriculum, labeling one in three American schools as failures and abandoning previous advances for both the highest and least performing students.

Although the Obama administration has only begun to present its list of proposed changes, and is likely a week or more away from providing full details, the existing blueprint has already drawn scrutiny — both nationally and among those gathered in Cedar Rapids.

“I had the opportunity last night to download and look at the blueprint, and my concern as I read through it is the number of times competition and competitive grants is mentioned in it — that monies would be allocated by competition,” said Gary Anhalt, a newly elected member of the Cedar Rapids Board of Education and retired teacher in the district. “Whenever we have competition, we have winners and losers. I don’t believe that we can afford to have losers in education.”

Others in the audience questioned what the reforms would do to energize “Gifted and Talented” programs, which provide additional challenges for the nation’s highest performing students, or to level playing fields for students with disabilities. Audience members and panelists were concerned about the continued accountability teachers, and only teachers, when students fail to perform well on standardized tests.

Corbin Beastrom,  a Jefferson High school senior and a member of the panel, felt students should not only be evaluated individually, but be given more opportunity to pursue their specific interests.

“I think education should give students the opportunity to do what they want, and achieve that high bar on their own,” he said. “It’s key to a strong education in America. And, I think if you can move away from standardized testing, the labeling and the sort of all encompassing route and let students make their own decisions, I think they’ll be right up there.”

During the event and in the press availability that followed, both Loebsack and Harkin pledged that the reforms would work their way through Congress as a bipartisan effort.

“As the Secretary has mentioned, there is a bipartisan effort being placed on reforming No Child Left Behind and reauthorizing the ESE Act,” said Loebsack, who serves on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee. “I think that is really important. I think everyone recognizes that ‘No Child Left Behind’ has had problems, which have already been referenced. That is recognized on a bipartisan basis.”

Harkin added, “As chairman, I have already met individually with every Senator on my committee — Republican and Democrat — to ask for what they want to do in the ESEA, and we are carving out certain areas. I have, for example, on the Republican side, Sen. Lamar Alexander (of Tennessee) — a former secretary of education, for crying out loud. He’s carving out areas he is working on in this bill. So, I put together teams of Republicans and Democrats on my committee to work on certain portions of the bill. It is going to be a thoroughly open and bipartisan effort.”

It is fair to say, however, that bipartisanship has not been a hallmark of this particular Congress. And, within minutes of Obama’s address that announced the blueprint for reform, Scott Brown, the newly elected Republican senator from Massachusetts, had already begun a partisan attack.

“An entire year has gone to waste,” Brown said while Congress has refused to focus on jobs and the economy.

While Brown’s response was targeted against health care reform and did not specifically call out education legislation, it did provide a slim window that Republicans might consider using to also stall or block this new discussion on reform. It was also something that the Democratic electeds called out, at least indirectly, while speaking with reporters.

“This isn’t just about education. Education is a cornerstone of economic development,” Loebsack said. “This is not just education in isolation. It is critical for so many other things in terms of moving our communities forward.”

Harkin added that “we are not going to have sound economic recovery” or “sustainable economic recovery in this country unless we focus on education.”

“It’s as simple as that,” Harkin said.