Senate Concurrent Resolution 105 PAG LIN 1 1 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. ___ 1 2 BY CONNOLLY, DVORSKY, QUIRMBACH, KREIMAN, BLACK, 1 3 STEWART, WARNSTADT, BOLKCOM, DOTZLER, RAGAN, SENG, 1 4 HOLVECK, COURTNEY, GRONSTAL, KIBBIE, FRAISE, HORN, 1 5 DEARDEN, BEALL, HATCH, and McCOY 1 6 A Concurrent Resolution encouraging the Congress of the 1 7 United States to amend the No Child Left Behind Act 1 8 of 2001 immediately to include a mechanism for an 1 9 automatic waiver from its provisions for school 1 10 accountability for states such as Iowa that have 1 11 successfully increased student achievement through 1 12 their own student achievement and teacher quality 1 13 measures and accountability reforms. 1 14 WHEREAS, in its recent report, "Report Card on 1 15 American Education: A State=by=State Analysis, 1976= 1 16 2001", the American Legislative Exchange Council 1 17 ranked Iowa fourth in its list of top four performing 1 18 public elementary and secondary schools in the nation, 1 19 as measured by several standardized tests; and 1 20 WHEREAS, Iowa's nationally significant, landmark 1 21 legislation, the Student Achievement and Teacher 1 22 Quality Act, was enacted in 2001, providing statewide 1 23 teaching standards, a statewide mentoring and 1 24 induction program, career development planning and a 1 25 career path for teachers, and evaluator training; and 1 26 WHEREAS, the comprehensive school improvement plan 1 27 each school district and accredited nonpublic school 1 28 is required to submit to the Department of Education 1 29 has improved the accountability of Iowa's schools; and 1 30 WHEREAS, the Department of Education's management 2 1 information system has made reporting by school 2 2 districts and accredited nonpublic schools more 2 3 consistent and accessible; and 2 4 WHEREAS, Iowa's General Assembly and its Governor 2 5 created in 1999 the Iowa Early Intervention Block 2 6 Grant Program, and appropriated over a five=year 2 7 period $120 million for the program, the purpose of 2 8 which is to reduce class sizes in basic skills 2 9 instruction to the state goal of 17 students for every 2 10 one teacher, provide direction and resources for early 2 11 intervention efforts by school districts to achieve a 2 12 higher level of student success in the basic skills, 2 13 especially reading skills, and increase communication 2 14 and accountability regarding student performance; and 2 15 WHEREAS, in 2001, Congress enacted and the 2 16 President signed into law the No Child Left Behind 2 17 (NCLB) Act, which has as its announced purpose 2 18 bringing high academic standards in reading and math 2 19 and test=based accountability for achievement of those 2 20 standards to schools that do not have accountability; 2 21 and 2 22 WHEREAS, while NCLB has a laudable purpose and may 2 23 impose needed standards and accountability in states 2 24 that have failed to hold their schools accountable for 2 25 student achievement, the federal law is misapplied to 2 26 Iowa, a state which has led the nation in student 2 27 achievement levels for years and which has a lengthy 2 28 history of student accountability through its use of 2 29 the Iowa test of basic skills and the Iowa test of 2 30 educational development; and 3 1 WHEREAS, no provision in NCLB permits the granting 3 2 of waivers from the NCLB mandates to states such as 3 3 Iowa, which have such a history of significant success 3 4 in maintaining high levels of student achievement; and 3 5 WHEREAS, while NCLB contains expensive mandates 3 6 that the United States Congress has not sufficiently 3 7 funded, leaving the state and its schools to pay much 3 8 of the costs of the federal mandate while state aid 3 9 for the state's proven educational programs is at risk 3 10 in these weak economic times; and 3 11 WHEREAS, it is clear that NCLB represents the most 3 12 sweeping federal intrusion into state and local 3 13 control of education in the history of the United 3 14 States, which egregiously violates the time=honored 3 15 American principles of balanced federalism and respect 3 16 for state and local prerogatives, especially in the 3 17 crucial area of education; and 3 18 WHEREAS, the successful welfare reform model was 3 19 not followed by NCLB, being the model in which states 3 20 that met the basic principles of the welfare reform 3 21 law enacted in 1996 by the Congress were allowed 3 22 waivers from the law to encourage state innovation and 3 23 flexibility in meeting the federal law's broad goals; 3 24 NOW THEREFORE, 3 25 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF 3 26 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, That the Congress of the 3 27 United States is urged to amend the No Child Left 3 28 Behind Act immediately to include a mechanism for a 3 29 waiver from its provisions for school accountability 3 30 which shall automatically be granted to states such as 4 1 Iowa that have successfully increased student 4 2 achievement through their own efforts and reforms; and 4 3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That such a waiver be 4 4 available to these states so long as they maintain 4 5 their proven educational programs and reforms and do 4 6 not retreat from or weaken them; and 4 7 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Secretary of the 4 8 Senate transmit copies of this Resolution to the 4 9 President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of 4 10 the United States House of Representatives, and to the 4 11 members of Iowa's congressional delegation, that they 4 12 may be apprised of the sense of the Iowa General 4 13 Assembly in this matter. 4 14 LSB 6399XS 80 4 15 kh/gg/14