BILL REQ. #:  Z-0565.1 

Read first time 02/01/2007.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 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, TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     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 has been diligently working on the attainment of the goals of the No Child Left Behind legislation, 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 fair, feasible, and creditable accountability system; and
     WHEREAS, Washington State has attained approval and is in compliance with the requirements provided in the regulations; and
     WHEREAS, The reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind legislation will provide the opportunity for essential changes to be made to reach the goals and purposes of the law; and
     WHEREAS, The No Child Left Behind Act represents the most sweeping federal intrusion into state and local control of education, which violates the time-honored American principle of balanced federalism and respect for state and local prerogative, especially in the area of education and has had the effect of curtailing additional state innovations and successful reform efforts previously underway; and
     WHEREAS, Students with limited English proficiency are in a program because they cannot speak, read, or write English and they must be provided appropriate and valid measures for accountability that are not included in the overall accountability until such students develop English academic language proficiency, for a period of not more than three years; and
     WHEREAS, Students with disabilities need appropriate assessments that meet the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), are aligned with their individual educational plans, and tested according to students' ability and not limited to their grade level; and
     WHEREAS, All students, all schools, and all districts do not improve on a uniform basis across any state as required by the state uniform bar, so the state uniform bar should be replaced with realistic requirements for continuous growth and improvement based on required yearly percentage increases in performance at the school, district, and state levels, which would provide fairness to accountability and an increased motivation for very low and very high performing schools; 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 adequate yearly progress provisions are overly prescriptive and rigid, and they identify too many schools "in need of improvement" by creating too many ways to fail, which reduces the opportunities and funding to assist schools that truly are in need of improvement; and
     WHEREAS, The Act requires all teachers to be highly qualified regardless of state systems of certification and licensure in place, states must continue to have authority to use flexibility in meeting these requirements so that the educational needs of the students and the diverse conditions in the state are met; and
     WHEREAS, Providers of supplemental services instruct students and are funded with federal funds, therefore these providers must meet the same safety and qualification standards required of public school educators; and
     WHEREAS, Supplemental services are most appropriately provided by public schools, public school educators should be allowed to offer supplemental services to qualifying students; 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 request 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 to cover 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, each member of Congress from the State of Washington, and the Governor of the State of Washington.