PRINTER'S NO. 2054
No. 345 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ROEBUCK, STAIRS, DeWEESE, McCALL, COHEN, EACHUS,
GRUCELA, HARKINS, KIRKLAND, LEACH, LONGIETTI, MACKERETH,
McILVAINE SMITH, MILNE, O'NEILL, PALLONE, RAPP, ROHRER,
SONNEY, YUDICHAK, BELFANTI, ADOLPH, BEAR, BIANCUCCI, BISHOP,
BLACKWELL, BOBACK, BRENNAN, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI,
CLYMER, COSTA, DALEY, DePASQUALE, DiGIROLAMO, EVERETT,
FABRIZIO, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GALLOWAY, GEIST, GEORGE, GIBBONS,
GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, HERSHEY, HESS, JAMES, JOSEPHS,
KORTZ, KOTIK, KULA, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MANDERINO, MANN,
McGEEHAN, McILHATTAN, MENSCH, R. MILLER, MOYER, MUNDY,
MUSTIO, MYERS, NAILOR, NICKOL, M. O'BRIEN, PARKER, PASHINSKI,
PAYTON, PEIFER, PRESTON, PYLE, RAMALEY, RAYMOND, READSHAW,
REICHLEY, ROSS, RUBLEY, SAINATO, SANTONI, SAYLOR, SCAVELLO,
SEIP, SHAPIRO, SIPTROTH, SOLOBAY, STURLA, SURRA, TANGRETTI,
R. TAYLOR, THOMAS, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WALKO, WANSACZ,
J. WHITE, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD, SCHRODER AND ROAE,
JUNE 22, 2007
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 22, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress of the United States to enact improvements
2 to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB).
3 WHEREAS, NCLB, reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary
4 Education Act (ESEA), was signed into law on January 8, 2002;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, NCLB significantly increased the Federal
7 Government's role in elementary and secondary education; and
8 WHEREAS, NCLB represented the most sweeping changes in
9 Federal education policy in 30 years; and
10 WHEREAS, The House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of
1 Pennsylvania supports the goals of raising student achievement,
2 closing achievement gaps and ensuring that each child has a
3 qualified teacher; and
4 WHEREAS, NCLB, while establishing a rigorous standard for our
5 nation's public schools and a model for assessing school
6 achievement, has produced unintended consequences; and
7 WHEREAS, School districts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 have incurred additional costs under NCLB for staff development,
9 certification requirements, testing, data collection, public
10 school choice-related transportation, supplemental education
11 services and other school improvement programs; and
12 WHEREAS, NCLB has resulted in overreliance on standardized
13 testing to the exclusion of other recognized indicators of
14 student achievement; and
15 WHEREAS, NCLB mandates have prevented teachers and
16 paraprofessionals from delivering a comprehensive curriculum;
17 and
18 WHEREAS, The present adequate yearly progress (AYP) structure
19 under NCLB is flawed, resulting in a high AYP failure rate; and
20 WHEREAS, Smaller class sizes and community/parent involvement
21 are proven methods of increasing student achievement; and
22 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's certification
23 process requires individuals to meet high standards and complete
24 a rigorous, thorough course of study; and
25 WHEREAS, Federal funding for NCLB Title I (Improving the
26 Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged) between 2002 and 2005
27 fell $21.4 billion short of statutorily authorized levels;
28 therefore be it
29 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
30 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress to enact NCLB
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1 improvements including:
2 (1) State-level development of a research-based school
3 accountability formula incorporating district-level
4 assessments, school-level assessments, performance or
5 portfolio assessments, high school graduation rates and
6 percentage of students participating in dual enrollment or
7 honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate
8 courses.
9 (2) Support systems instead of sanctions: increased
10 Federal funding for enhanced Federal and State technical
11 assistance and Federal and State improvement plan assistance.
12 (3) Differentiated outcomes for schools, with targeted
13 improvement plans for specific subgroups of students.
14 (4) Transparent growth models, at the State level, with
15 data used exclusively for instructional, curricular and
16 professional development purposes.
17 (5) Valid, reliable assessments for each child that
18 accurately and fairly reflect student, school and school
19 district performance.
20 (6) Flexibility relating to test scores of students with
21 disabilities and English Language Learner students: allowing
22 IEP teams to determine appropriate assessment and standards
23 for each child, removing the 1% and 2% limits for alternative
24 assessments and extending to three years the AYP inclusion of
25 test scores of English Language Learner students for whom
26 native language assessments in required core content subjects
27 are not available.
28 (7) Restoration of the Class Size Reduction program in
29 place prior to NCLB, whose goals were to provide an optimum
30 class size of 15 students and to foster parent and community
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1 involvement by funding initiatives such as adult and family
2 literacy, parenting classes and community engagement
3 programs.
4 (8) Defining "highly qualified teacher" as any educator
5 who is teaching in his or her assigned area of certification
6 and who has met the licensure/certification requirements set
7 forth in his or her respective state.
8 (9) Full funding of all NCLB programs at authorized
9 levels;
10 and be it further
11 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
12 the Secretary of Education, to the presiding officers of each
13 house of Congress and to each member of Congress from
14 Pennsylvania.
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