 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Contact:
Lee Jernstadt
(202) 326-8680
Council Urges Final Action on Reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act to Help American Students Be First In the World
Washington, D.C., March 12, 2000--Members of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), meeting March 12-14 in Washington, are urging members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives to complete action on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, in order to assure this major federal law helps all American students become first in the world.
"As this new century begins," said Nancy Keenan, President of the Council and Montana State Superintendent of Education, "the Congress and the President have a great opportunity to cast the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in support of major goals for student performance across the nation."
The reauthorization should be designed around three goals:
The Council urges Congress to build the new ESEA on the advances made in 1994 and to organize the many programs under ESEA around these three goals. Federal programs should be targeted to specific reform activities, such as professional development, use of technologies and concentrated services for students of poverty, with specific decisions for use in local and state hands. For effective uses of the funds, the law should provide help to states and localities to accomplish comprehensive reform plans, provide for consolidated applications and audits across programs, offer flexibility in state and local determination of how funds are to be used, and insist on strong accountability based on student performance gains.
- To assist all states and localities in having standards, assessments, accountability systems and strategies for use of resources that result in student performance that is second to no nation in the world;
- To accelerate student achievement for all students not meeting standards by providing supplemental resources to achieve high standards; and
- To develop the capacity of all schools to lift student performance to internationally competitive standards, particularly schools with high concentrations of low-performing students.
Council members have been working with the committees and members of the House and Senate as parts of the legislation have moved forward in 2000. They will continue to do so until the law is reauthorized. Specific recommendations for actions on the House and Senate versions of this large bill are included in several fact sheets distributed during the Legislative Conference to the Senate and House.
"The Elementary and Secondary Education Act is at the core of using federal funding to help states and localities make key, strategic improvements in student performance," said President Keenan. "These programs and resources are vital to the localities and states. We urge completion on ESEA as soon as possible in 2000."
The Council of Chief State School Officers is a nationwide, nonprofit organization comprised of the public officials who head the departments of elementary and secondary education, and in some states, other aspects of education in the state, five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Schools.
-30-
Council of Chief State School Officers
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW · Suite 700 · Washington, DC 20001-1431
voice: 202.408.5505 · fax: 202.408.8072
