Brief Description: Petitioning the President and Congress to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Sponsors: Senators McAuliffe, Weinstein, Kline, Franklin, Spanel, Rasmussen, Keiser, Schmidt, Rockefeller, Pridemore, Jacobsen, Prentice, Fairley, Brown, Doumit, Poulsen, Thibaudeau, Regala, Eide, Shin and Berkey.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education: 2/10/05, 2/21/05 [DP, DNP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EARLY LEARNING, K-12 & HIGHER EDUCATION

Majority Report: Do pass.Signed by Senators McAuliffe, Chair; Pridemore, Vice Chair; Weinstein, Vice Chair; Berkey, Eide, Kohl-Welles, Rasmussen, Rockefeller and Shin.

Minority Report: Do not pass.Signed by Senators Schmidt, Ranking Minority Member; Benton, Delvin, Pflug and Schoesler.

Staff: Ingrid Mungia (786-7423)

Background: On January 8, 2002 President George Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This act reauthorizes and amends federal education programs established under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

The major focus of No Child Left Behind 2001 is to provide all children with a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education. The federal No Child Left Behind Act is a national extension of the standards-based education reform efforts undertaken in Washington State since 1993.

Summary of Bill: The President and Congress are petitioned to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Testimony For: There are problems in the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that need to be adjusted. The NCLB requirements, as written, are unfair to special education and english language learner (ELL) students. The assesment does not test the true potential of students or let students use accommodations they need. Currently, NCLB is not adequately funded and is an unfunded mandate to the state and school districts.

Testimony Against: None.

Who Testified: PRO: Karen Davis, WEA; Stacey Valentine, WEA; Lisa Bracken Johnson, WEA; Bill Throssell, WEA; Kathleen Heaton-Bailey, WEA; Melaine Hill, ACORN; Stella Eoff, ACORN; Diane Saint Marie, ACORN; Carrie Hathorn, ACORN; Mary Alice Heuschel, OSPI.