Letter: No Child Left Behind Act is not properly funded

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.

Education Secretary Rod Paige's outrageous claim that states are collectively sitting on $2.7 billion in federal education funds is a smokescreen (The Las Vegas Sun, "No Child Left Behind widely misunderstood," July 26). The Bush administration is not adequately funding the rigid demands of the so-called No Child Left Behind Act.

The 22,000 members of the Nevada State Education Association have always supported the goals of the NCLB Act, and we believe every kid deserves a great public school.

K-12 education in Nevada is currently funded below the national average. Now the federal government is adding an extra burden on Nevada's already cash-strapped schools with the requirements of this underfunded federal mandate.

For low-income children in Nevada alone, the Bush administration's budget proposal for this upcoming fiscal year falls more than $36.6 million short of what was promised under the law. Money earmarked to improve teacher quality -- which could be used to hire additional teachers to reduce class size -- also suffered a severe shortfall with a $1.3 million gap between what was promised and what the Bush administration has allocated.

Instead of providing children with the resources they need to improve education, this misguided law wastes money on the things children need least -- more bureaucracy, paperwork and standardized testing.

Teachers and parents know what we need to do to improve education. We need to invest in what works -- smaller classes, teacher training, greater parental involvement, early childhood education, full-day kindergarten, safe classrooms and up-to-date textbooks and technology.

TERRY HICKMAN Editor's note: Terry Hickman is president of the Nevada State Education Association.