BILL REQ. #:  Z-1177.1 

Read first time 01/26/2006.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Washington State supports, believes in, and pursues the goal of No Child Left Behind, all students achieving at high levels; and
     WHEREAS, The state welcomes the additional support No Child Left Behind has brought to focus on quality education, the improvements needed to reach all children, and the urgency nationwide to close achievement gaps; and
     WHEREAS, The state supports a feasible and fair accountability system; and
     WHEREAS, Washington State has attained approval and is in compliance with the requirements provided in the regulations; and
     WHEREAS, There are several major areas in regulations and law, that if improved, will support successful implementation of No Child Left Behind; and
     WHEREAS, Students with limited English proficiency are in their program because they cannot speak, read, or write English and therefore need more appropriate measures for accountability; and
     WHEREAS, All students, all schools, and all districts do not improve on a uniform basis across any state, and Washington State's former state accountability goals along with the required state uniform bar would provide a more educationally sound model; and
     WHEREAS, The act imposes a significant testing burden on states, schools, and districts and unless appropriate federal funding is provided for administering and scoring quality large scale assessments in the new grade levels required, states should be allowed to continue to assess students annually in selected grades in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools and even if funding is provided for these assessments in the new grade levels, states should be able to use that funding to assess students in a variety of ways that would inform improvements in instruction but would not have to meet the extensive technical standards now required; and
     WHEREAS, The act imposes significant costs on the state and local school districts, teachers, and paraprofessionals; and
     WHEREAS, These costs include the administration of newly required assessments, and the costs of staff development, certification upgrades, and coursework;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the President and Congress of the United States work together with state legislatures and the United States Department of Education to raise authorized funding levels of the No Child Left Behind Act funding to cover a substantial percentage of the costs that states and districts will incur to carry out these recommendations, and fully fund the law at those levels without reducing expenditures for other education programs and to improve language in the Act and regulations concerning its implementation, to make improvements to address the issues raised in this Memorial, and to grant the time, flexibility, and changes that will ensure successful nationwide implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.