No politician left behind

By Emily Richmond

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006 | 7:15 a.m.

As 700 new teachers nibbled grilled chicken and tortellini Monday, they got a great big welcome to Nevada in the form of a lesson about politics and public education.

It came in remarks by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., about the hottest potato in the nation's public K-12 classrooms - the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

He likes it.

The school district in which the teachers are about to start working - Clark County - does not.

The law requires every student to make adequate yearly progress on standardized tests. Schools, districts and states that fall short face sanctions.

"I understand that piece of legislation has been just a little bit controversial," said Ensign, drawing weak chuckles from the audience at UNLV's Cox Pavilion.

Supporters say the law has increased accountability and achievement. Ensign said its demands are moving the nation's public schools "in the right direction," providing opportunities for school districts to share their best practices, particularly in subject areas such as science and math.

"No local school district, or state even, has the resources to do the research as to what the most effective teaching techniques are," Ensign said.

Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes would beg to differ. Rulffes has said the act is counterproductive because it forces the district to teach to the test rather than design curriculum best suited for its schools. He has held to that position even after students showed gains on recent standardized tests. This year, over half the district's schools made adequate progress, compared with a third in 2005.

In an interview before his speech, Ensign told the Sun he was pleased about those gains. He also voiced support for Nevada's quest to change how student progress is measured under the federal law. Nevada is asking the federal government to credit schools that show significant improvement in student achievement, rather than demanding everyone meet the same hard-target benchmark.

"We're such a transient state, you kids moving from this school to that school - how do you measure that?" Ensign said. "We're the fastest-growing state with a huge non-English speaking population. We have major challenges."

The law is up for reauthorization next year, and that's the time to fix some of the problems that have come to light, Ensign said. Some tweaks have already taken effect, including more lenient guidelines for testing special-education students.

Opponents say the ultimate goal of the law - 100 percent of the nation's schoolchildren proficient in reading, writing and math by the 2013-14 academic year - is a pipe dream.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., stayed away from No Child Left Behind during his address to the new teachers Monday, focusing instead on educators who inspired him during his youth in Searchlight and later at Basic High School. But in a later interview with the Sun, Reid shook his head when asked whether he agreed with his colleague's assessment of the law's value.

"It's leaving children behind," said Reid, who still supports the concept of the law but not its execution.

"I don't believe it's been good for America," Reid said. "I've met twice with all 17 superintendents of (Nevada's) schools and none of them like it. We have to change the law, and it has to be retroactive."

The fundamental flaw is that schools haven't been given the financial support needed to implement such sweeping reforms, Reid said.

"Bush did not live up to what he said he would do and allow proper funding," Reid said. "I don't think we should do away with it, but it needs tremendous and significant changes."