Brief Description: Requesting changes in the No Child Left Behind Act.

Sponsors: Representatives Linville, Jarrett, Hunt, Chase, Schual-Berke, Kenney and Rockefeller; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Hearing Date: 2/4/04

Staff: Sydney Forrester (786-7120).

Background:

In 2001, Congress amended and reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) The amended ESEA is known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Under NCLB, Washington must report annually on the percentage of students achieving at grade level on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), at the school, district, and state level. The data from these reports is used to determine whether a school, a district, or the state has achieved adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward federal goals. An increasing percentage of students must pass the WASL each year in order to make AYP.

Reporting for AYP purposes must include the WASL passage percentages for disaggregated groups, including race, ethnicity, gender, English language proficiency, migrant status, disability status, and low-income status. A school is deemed to have failed to make AYP if one or more of its disaggregated student groups does not achieve the requisite level of WASL passage. Similarly, a district is deemed to have failed to make AYP if one or more of its schools does not meet the WASL passage goal, and finally the state is deemed to have failed to make AYP if one or more school districts fails to make AYP. A progressive schedule of annual consequences is imposed for failure to meet AYP.

In addition to AYP requirements, the NCLB defines the qualifications needed by teachers and paraprofessionals who work on any facet of classroom instruction. It requires that states develop plans to achieve the goal that all teachers of core academic subjects be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. States must include in their plans annual, measurable objectives that schools and districts must meet in moving toward the goal and must report on their progress in the annual report cards.

Since passage of the NCLB, twelve states have considered, or are considering, urging Congress and the President to provide additional funding for NCLB. Eight states have completed or are considering fiscal studies of the NCLB, and five states have considered, or are considering, legislation indicating the state's intent not to participate in NCLB.

Summary of Bill:

The Legislature petitions the President and Congress of the United States to work together with state legislatures and the U. S. Department of Education to improve the NCLB and its implementing regulations to address issues related to students with cognitive disabilities and those with limited English proficiency, and the costs associated with statewide professional development and administration of newly developed assessments.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.