Letter: No Child Left Behind has produced results

Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

A recent Las Vegas Sun editorial ("Leave behind a bad law," Jan. 11) claimed that much is wrong with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Regrettably, your editorial's assertions completely miss the significant successes achieved since the law was enacted five years ago.

Consider that, for the first time, all states now have an accountability plan in place governing their schools. Or that, under the law, all schools must disaggregate student performance data, letting parents, teachers and the public know how well schools are doing their job of educating students. Prior to the law's passage, only two states disaggregated data.

NCLB has refocused schools on their core mission - ensuring that all children are held to high standards and brought up to grade level as quickly as possible.

Test scores demonstrate how far we have come. The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or Nation's Report Card, shows all-time highs in elementary school math and reading achievement. Also the NAEP report shows "achievement gaps" between Hispanic and African-Americans and their white counterparts at all-time lows and closing at a record pace. More progress has been made by 9-year-olds in reading over the past five years than in the previous 28 years combined.

And contrary to the editorial's claim, NCLB provides more funding to schools in need. In fact, Nevada has received an 82 percent increase in federal education funding since President Bush took office.

After five years, it's clear the law is helping promote excellence in American education. And, that we have essentially added a fourth "R" to the famous reading-writing-'rithmetic bedrock of school existence. Namely, results.

Christopher Wright, San Francisco