CEA Supports Amendment Of NCLB 

HARTFORD — The Connecticut Education Association (CEA) is launching a public awareness TV campaign urging state residents to become “advocates” for amending the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.

According to a recent statement, the CEA contends that NCLB places a “bureaucratic burden” on school districts and is concerned that the federal government is providing “nowhere near adequate funding to carry the law’s mandates.”

The purpose of the NCLB Act, according to the US Department of Education, is to encourage academic accountability through stricter national standards, imparted through tools included standardized testing. The act also strives to build increasingly open communication between students, families, and schools’ faculty and administration. 

Using the 1,080-page NCLB law to emphasize its case, one CEA ad asserts that NCLB is “narrowing the traditional curriculum in schools by squeezing out important subjects like social studies, music, and art” in favor of teaching to math- and reading-focused standardized testing.

A second spot involved the participation of 100 public schools statewide. By putting a human face on its concerns, the CEA seeks to “reinforce the common sense that the Act’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to measuring achievement is not only unrealistic but downright ‘harmful’ to many children.”

CEA President Rosemary Coyle is concerned that the designation of some state schools and districts as “underperforming” can lead to future closings. “To prevent that from happening,” Ms Coyle said, “voters must force Congress to make changes in the law. This is what democracy is all about. Our television spots direct viewers to CEA’s website and urge them to sign the petition we are circulating for revision of NCLB.”

The ad will be showing on state networks now through early spring.

For more information about NCLB, visit the US Department of Education at www.ed.gov or the CEA at www.cea.org.