Today, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) started its important work on the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reauthorization by holding a roundtable hearing. As a member of this committee, I found the testimony and professional insight from the educators present very helpful. I found it interesting that everyone essentially agrees with the goal of NCLB – to close the achievement gap.

We were also in agreement that in order to reach this goal, schools must have the proper resources and legislative tools available. I have always believed it is up to Congress to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). Congress promised to fund this mandate at 40 percent, but currently only funds 16 to 16.5 percent of the tab. If Congress fulfilled this promise, the funds that are currently being used to supplement this program could be used for other NCLB-related causes. The panel agreed with this logical funding request. The panel also agreed with me that we should take a look at truly measuring student achievement. Currently, seventh graders’ test scores in 2006 will be compared to seventh graders’ scores in 2007. We’re comparing apples to oranges when we measure in this way. A growth model system would track a student’s scores year after year to more accurately measure their progress.

Finally, I asked the panel if we were being unrealistic about English language learners and their ability to fully understand and take the required assessments after only one year of learning English. I think these students should, at least have two years of rigorous English language learning before their test scores can be counted towards a school’s adequate yearly progress rating. The panel overwhelmingly agreed with this idea too.

NCLB reauthorization is not and should not become a partisan issue. It was clear we agreed with the difficulties in the current system. The solutions will not be easy, but with the collaboration and agreement I encountered at this morning’s hearing, it seems as though those solutions are not too far behind.