The No Child Left Behind Act brought exposure to wide education disparities between white students and students of color, state school chiefs acknowledged at a recent Council of Chief State School Officers policy forum here.
But during the law鈥檚 nearly 14-year lifespan, as the federal government rolled out strict mandates for how states and districts had to turn around underperforming schools and evaluate teachers, those gaps barely closed, they said.
Now, a long overdue update of NCLB that recently passed a congressional conference panel stands to shift a great deal of school-turnaround and -accountability work to the states鈥� chiefs.
The more than 40 state schools chiefs in attendance committed to continue working on equity鈥攖he theme of this year鈥檚 conference鈥攂y identifying achievement gaps and working to close them.
鈥淥ur members want to be held accountable,鈥� said Chris Minnich, the executive director of CCSSO, the Washington-based non-partisan organization that represents state schools chiefs.
鈥淣CLB did a great thing in bringing the data forward,鈥� Minnich continued. 鈥淲ith this flexibility, it鈥檚 time for states to step up. They鈥檙e ready to build better accountability systems.鈥� Some civil rights advocates point out that it was the federal government that had to enforce the integration of schools after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the principle of 鈥渟eparate but equal鈥� education, and has stepped in in more recent years to address the disproportionate rates of discipline used on students of color, especially African Americans.
Without strong federal accountability, those problems would only get worse, they say.
Wider Latitude
But some state chiefs said that under NCLB, they weren鈥檛 able to assist schools with the supports and funding for initiatives they say are proven to work.
鈥淲e welcome accountability,鈥� said Thomas Bice, the Alabama superintendent. 鈥淲e believe in assessment. But one size doesn鈥檛 fit all. What we need in Alabama may look different than what they need in Montana.鈥�
Michael Martirano, the state superintendent in West Virginia, said he and his peers have been stuck enforcing federal mandates while also trying to pacify legislatures and state board members who want state control over public schools.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of tension for state chiefs between what the federal expectations are and what the state legislature and state board wants,鈥� he said.
The framework of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the compromise measure being considered by Congress, would give wide latitude to state chiefs to design teacher evaluations, models for turning around low-performing schools, and standards.
During the conference, state chiefs, assisted by multicolored graphics and videos from their home states, spoke of what equity meant to them and the student data that keep them up at night. They held a three-hour roundtable in which they described best practices and the work they would like to expand if they are given more flexibility under an updated federal education law.
Hawaii, for example, wants to break out subgroups of Asian-American students to more aggressively target help for lagging segments of students within that diverse population. And Kentucky wants to focus more on fine arts and science.
鈥淲e built a great accountability structure with the waiver,鈥� said Brenda Cassellius, the state superintendent of Minnesota, referring to her state鈥檚 waiver from several provisions of NCLB.
鈥淚鈥檓 bothered when I hear people say that school chiefs won鈥檛 hold schools accountable,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not been evident with the waivers. We鈥檝e supported our schools and we鈥檝e held them accountable.鈥�
At the end of the conference, John B. King Jr., who鈥檚 slated to become the acting U.S. Secretary of Education this month, told the group that reauthorization of the federal education law is long overdue and that he hopes if they are given more authority, state chiefs will continue President Barack Obama鈥檚 efforts to improve the quality of the nation鈥檚 teachers, identify and work to close achievement gaps, and raise academic standards.
Neither King, who is currently filling the duties of deputy secretary, nor Roberto Rodriguez, who is Obama鈥檚 deputy assistant for education, tipped their hands in a conversation with Minnich, the CCSSO director, as to what parts of the wide-ranging reauthorization framework the administration liked or didn鈥檛 like.
鈥淚f reauthorization passes, we鈥檙e excited about the work that鈥檚 ahead,鈥� King said.
鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 pass, we鈥檒l continue the good work we鈥檝e done working with the waivers [from the No Child Left Behind Act],鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an ambitious agenda. Everybody feels a sense of urgency.鈥�
鈥楥onversations Around Race鈥�
King pointed out that the original federal education law鈥攖he Elementary and Secondary Education Act鈥攊tself was created in the midst of the civil rights movement and that the nation is grappling again with similar issues of disparities between white students and their nonwhite peers.
While states are thinking about ways to better hold their own schools accountable, it鈥檚 important that they think more creatively about how to provide equitable, adequate, and integrated school environments for all of the nation鈥檚 children, he said.
鈥淭his legislation [now before the Congress] rightly puts in the hands of states the ability to focus on equity,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat will you do with that? We need to have difficult conversations around race.鈥�
Rodriguez said he hoped states continue to provide students access to pre-K and to make sure high school graduates are prepared for higher education and the workforce.
鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased with the progress that鈥檚 been made,鈥� he said about the compromise ESEA legislation.
鈥淲e continue to review the language as it becomes available. A lot of these policies around greater flexibilities and control, these are policies we tried to advance in 2012 in order to launch the ESEA [renewal] process.鈥�
