Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

For nine years, teachers and students have lived under the federal education mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), our country’s main K–12 education law. Unfortunately, it’s a law that both Democrats and Republicans recognize has clear flaws and limitations, including mislabeling some schools as failures and basing major decisions on the results of a single state exam.

As a the principal of Concord-Carlisle , I know that we need a complete and expedited overhaul of NCLB to address the rapidly changing education needs of our country and its students. Our high school graduation rates are too low; U.S. students are being outperformed by their peers in other countries; and while we’re not providing some schools with the assistance they need to improve, neither are we rewarding good schools for their successes. 

I recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with our local lawmakers and discuss ways they can support Massachusetts s school improvement work. The meetings were part of a larger event, the Leadership Institute for Legislative Advocacy, where I joined other U.S. educators to advocate for fixing NCLB. This annual legislative conference is sponsored by ASCD, a nonprofit educational leadership association, to help educators inform their elected officials about what is going on in schools and communities.

While in D.C., I met with Sen. Scott Brown and representatives from Sen. Kerry's, Rep. Neil's, Rep. Lynch's, Rep. Frank's, Rep. Tierney's and Rep. Markey's offices to discuss the following ideas for how Congress can overhaul NCLB in 2011 and help schools in Massachusetts.

First, Congress needs to embrace high academic standards that prepare students for college and careers. These standards must encompass not only reading and math, but also other core subjects like social science, the arts, and physical education.

Next, we must remember that students will be unable to meet these high standards if their comprehensive needs aren’t being met. That’s why Congress needs to prioritize a whole child approach to education that encourages collaboration among school systems and the social, health, and safety services that support children. Such efforts will ultimately ensure that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

After standards comes testing, and perhaps the most maligned parts of NCLB are its testing and accountability requirements. NCLB has necessarily focused on closing achievement gaps among student demographic subgroups. But now it’s time to build on this effort by tracking the academic growth of each child in every state over the course of the school year.

Moreover, we need to stop imposing punitive, prescriptive, and unproven sanctions on struggling schools and start providing comprehensive support that enriches the curriculum and fosters high-quality teaching and learning. And instead of ignoring the schools that are doing well, we need to reward them—such as providing them flexibility in how they use their federal education dollars.

Finally, the NCLB rewrite must build district and school capacity through investments in education research and the dissemination of best practices to educators. Every child in every classroom deserves and needs a highly effective teacher. Toward that end, the federal government can help states agree on a common, research-based definition of educator effectiveness; develop state teacher evaluation methods; and support educators in gaining and sustaining professional knowledge and skills to address students’ evolving needs.

Schools and districts across the country have already taken on some of this work. Here at Concord-Carlisle, we’ve worked to educate the whole child, support our educators and provide a well-rounded curriculum. But we’ve done so largely in spite of, and not because of, federal education policies.  Just think how much more progress our students could make if members of Congress listened to educators, parents, and students about what is working in their local schools.

During this year’s State of the Union, President Obama made the case for increased education investments amid an overall call for fiscal austerity, saying, “Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you'll feel the impact.”

Let’s provide our students with the futures they deserve. Only then will we be assured that our country will continue to fly high in the face of increasing challenges and global competition. 

Peter Badalament

Peter Badalament is the principal of Concord-Carlisle High School in the Concord, Mass.