Federal official defends No Child Left Behind Act

Friday, July 25, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act will change the face of public education -- including Clark County schools -- for the better, Jack Martin, chief financial officer for the U.S. Education Department, said Thursday in Las Vegas.

Martin, who was in town to speak at two separate conferences, said criticism that the legislation amounts to an unfunded mandate is inaccurate. Federal education funding has increased overall from $8 billion to $11 billion in the past three years.

By requiring schools to test all of their students -- and show adequate yearly progress for each sub-group -- a new level of accountability is expected, Martin said.

"Before, a school could appear to be meeting its objectives and demonstrating progress by leaving out a group of students they knew would be low-performing," Martin said. "When you do that, you're creating a large underclass of uneducated kids."

Nevada, along with many other states, has struggled to meet some of the legislation's deadlines, particularly the requirement that at-risk schools have only highly-qualified teachers. There's also been confusion over interpretations of the law.

Because of those difficulties, Education Secretary Rod Paige is sending out teams later this summer to meet with each state's education department and offer guidance, Martin said. "Tool kits" for teachers and educators explaining the law are also being compiled, he said.

"The challenge we're facing now is getting the word out that there's help for local school districts who need it," Martin said.

Clark County School Board President Sheila Moulton said she wants to see the money.

"Are we really getting more federal funds per-student because of No Child Left Behind, or are we getting more dollars because our enrollment has increased?' Moulton asked Thursday. "I'd like to see that there's an actual, per-pupil percentage increase."

The National Education Association, one of the most severe critics of the legislation, has cited a report by the General Accounting Office that found states would have to spend between $1.9 billion and $5.3 billion over the next five years to meet the new testing requirements.

"So far we're not seeing much of an increase in our funds, just enough to keep doing what we're doing," said Clark County School Superintendent Carlos Garcia. "What's I'd like to see is the money to put the programs and initiatives in place that we know can work, that will help us meet these new standards down the road." Garcia said a downside to No Child Left Behind is the requirement that school districts provide transportation from consistently-failing schools to better campuses for students whose parents demand it.

"That's a new cost we have to bear, and we're not getting extra money to do it," Garcia said. "We have to take dollars away from the very schools we're trying to help."

A positive element of the federal legislation is that all sub-groups of students, including special education and English Language Learners, must be tested annually, Garcia said. The data are also broken down by gender and ethnic groups, giving the district more data to evaluate progress, Garcia said.

It's too early to tell whether overall the No Child Left Behind Act will actually improve public schools, Garcia said.

"In a lot of ways its an experiment for all of us," Garcia said.