September 30, 2007
Why Keeping NCLB Strong Is Inherently Democratic
Trying to understand why the details matter in the current battles over the reauthorization of NCLB? In this DFER Briefing Memo, Charles Barone explains what the fuss is all about - particularly in terms of what changes to the law might do to its legislative soul.
Barone, a former staffer to Rep. George Miller (D-California) and the top Democratic staff member for the House Education and Labor Committee in 2001 when NCLB was passed, traces current federal education policies back to both Brown v. Board of Education and the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
He notes how NCLB, for all its problems, represented a significant attempt to eliminate some of the original (and amended) shortcomings in Title I, and highlights the historic importance of disaggregating student performance data by student type.
The memo underscores how damaging it could be if a reauthorized NCLB actually took us backward in terms of equality and accountability.
Writes Barone:
Disaggregation is the key to comparability. Comparability is the key to assessing equal opportunity. Equal opportunity is the key to closing achievement gaps. Disaggregation is, in fact, the single most important linchpin in the federal law to leverage both the 1954 goals of the Supreme Court and the 1965 goals of the original ESEA.
Dowload a copy of "Keeping Achievement Relevant" here.
