Feingold Presses for Hearings on Implementation of No Child Left Behind In Third Year Under Education Law, Educators, Administrators, Students, and Parents Are Still Struggling to Wade Through Complexities February 18, 2005 Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) was joined by several of his Senate colleagues in urging the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee to hold hearings on problems with implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Since NCLB was signed into law three years ago, school personnel, school boards, and parents from all over the country have raised concerns about difficulties implementing NCLB. In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member, the Senators ask that the hearings focus on these critical concerns. "Since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind law, I have heard from a steady stream of administrators, teachers, and parents about problems surrounding the law," Feingold said. "The federal government's one-size-fits-all approach to public education under No Child Left Behind is handcuffing those responsible for teaching America's children. School districts need to have the flexibility to address the education needs of their communities." The letter that Feingold and his colleagues sent to the HELP Committee identifies 11 different points that the hearings must focus on to get to the root of the problems with NCLB's implementation. Areas of concern with NCLB include implementation in rural and smaller school districts, funding levels which are below the agreed-upon authorization levels for crucial programs, and the likelihood that all public schools may not be able to meet the 100 percent proficiency goal by the 2013-2014 school year, even if those schools show a steady increase in student achievement. "Unfortunately, many educators, administrators, students and parents are still struggling to wade through the maze of new, and often complex, rules and regulations associated with NCLB," the Senators wrote. "We agree that a full discussion of these and other issues surrounding implementation of the NCLB is warranted, given the importance of a good public education to our children and to the future of the nation." Feingold was joined in sending the letter by Senators Mark Dayton (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Ben Nelson (D-NE), and Carl Levin (D-MI).

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