Weighing the Costs of Leaving No Child Behind
When President Bush signed the "No
Child Left Behind" Act (NCLB) into law in January
of 2002, he launched an avalanche of changes that placed
test-based accountability at the center of school reform
across the country. In the years since, states and school
districts have sometimes struggled to implement the
Act, and debate over the funding of NCLB has swelled.
As federal officials herald historic increases in education
funding, local education officials have declared the
Act an "unfunded mandate" that places overwhelming
costs on schools. Amidst this disagreement, individuals
and organizations are working to determine what the
"full funding" of NCLB would require, and
to consider whether the federal government is meeting
those requirements.
WILLIAM J. MATHIS
William Mathis's extensive research into the costs and
impact of NCLB has placed him at the forefront of the
effort to understand federal funding of the law. In
addition to serving as Superintendent of Schools at
the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union in Vermont for
over twenty years, Mr. Mathis consults for the Rural
Education Finance Center of the Rural School and Community
Trust, sits on the Board of Directors of the American
Education Finance Association, and has been involved
with numerous other education organizations. Mr. Mathis
has written many articles and reports, notable amongst
them the June 2001 primer "How to Analyze Your
State's Education Funding System." Mr. Mathis has
used his expertise on school financing to provide vocal,
effective, and knowledgeable assessments of NCLB.
William Mathis and NCLB
One such article is entitled "Two
Very Different Questions," and appeared in
the April 21st issue of Education Week. In it Mathis
discusses the numerous definitions for "fully-funded"
that educators, activists, and lawmakers have used to
distort the realities of NCLB funding. He lists five
primary lenses through which the term "fully-funded"
is viewed: 1) "relative increases," in which
federal funding is looked at as an objective historical
number; 2) "authorization vs. appropriation levels,"
in which the government is criticized for funding below
authorized levels; 3) "the law's definition of
fully funded," in which the language of NCLB is
taken at face-value; 4) "the 'add-on' costs of
administering the law," in which the federal government
must pay for the Act's administrative implementation
only; and 5) "the cost of teaching children to
meet standards," in which the real costs of meeting
the standards set by NCLB are considered. Mathis shows
that examination through each of these lenses reveals
a lack of funding for the Act, though some paint a much
starker picture than others. Mathis also cites researchers
who have performed cost analyses for definitions 4 and
5, finding that, while the much lower costs of merely
administering the law are funded at 50% by the federal
government, the actual progress towards proficiency
would require, on average, a 30% increase in total funding
for education-many billions of dollars annually.
Mr. Mathis's article "No
Child Left Behind: Costs and Benefits," from
the May 2003 issue of Phi Delta Kappan takes on similar
issues. In this article, he specifically analyzes the
numbers put forth by cost studies in ten states. He
then goes on to analyze progress towards the Act's promised
results, as well as progress towards some results that
were unforeseen.
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND
The Children's
Defense Fund (CDF) is an organization determined
to "Leave No Child Behind," a mission and
motto that pre-date NCLB by many years. CDF is dedicated
to "ensur[ing] every child a Healthy Start, a Head
Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start
in life and successful passage to adulthood with the
help of caring families and communities." The Children's
Defense Fund is an active advocacy group that fights
for children in the arenas of health, mental health,
early childhood development, poverty, and education.
CDF and NCLB
The Children's Defense Fund recognizes the powerful
impact of NCLB on education, and continues to track
its success in truly allowing every child to catch up.
CDF's website provides links to reports by numerous
organizations such as the Center on Education Policy
and the Alliance for Excellent Education, all of which
highlight key issues in the implementation of NCLB,
the alteration of federal accountability requirements,
or the persistent and stark disparities of educational
opportunity. The CDF website also contains fact sheets
on salient policy issues such as teacher quality, exit
exams, and minority drop-out rates.
CDF has also compiled exhaustive documentation of the
funding
of Title 1 for the 2005 fiscal year, with data for
every school district in the nation. Title 1 funds are
federal aid for low-income students, and are contingent
upon a school district's participation in all NCLB requirements.
The data compares Title 1 funds authorized by NCLB with
the actual budget proposed by the federal government,
and finds dramatic under-funding in virtually every
district. CDF also documents the discrepancy in resources
available to low-income and minority children when compared
with other children across the country, listing key
educational elements such as quality teaching, curriculum,
and facilities. These elements are essential, CDF asserts,
to successful NCLB implementation; CDF maintains a strong
voice for children not receiving their fair share of
resources.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES
The National
Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is a non-partisan
group committed to serving the 50 state legislatures
in handling common issues, communicating, and finding
a voice on the federal level. NCSL conducts research,
connects state leaders, and advocates for the states
in Washington, D.C. NCSL is involved in countless issue
areas, including economic development, agriculture and
rural development, immigrant policy, public health,
labor and employment, environmental protection, and
education.
NCSL and NCLB
The "Education" section on the NCSL website
contains numerous resources for state lawmakers, including
links to the National Center on Education Finance, the
Legislative Education Staff Network, and the NCSL Education
Standing Committee. The site also contains a comprehensive
"No Child Left Behind" section, which includes
a detailed history, explanations of elements such as
accountability, AYP, and teacher quality, a listing
of state accountability plans, and a roster of articles
on the funding of NCLB. It also contains an extensive
listing of resources and articles related to NCLB. NCSL
provides a powerful network for legislators to discuss
successful or unsuccessful attempts at implementing
NCLB. Their website links to information from the U.S.
Department of Education, but NCSL remains a powerful
platform for states to express common frustration or
need. NCSL has created a substantive resource on the
details and costs of the "No Child Left Behind"
Act.
Prepared by Nelly Ward, October 13, 2004
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