Response From Sen. Kay Hagan

This is the response I got from Sen. Kay Hagan regarding this post and subsequent letter I sent (See blog post and letter - Here)      October 11, 2011 Dear Friend, Thank you for contacting me with your concerns on the No Child Left Behind Act.  I greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts on this important issue. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (H.R. 1) was signed into law on January 8, 2002.  Most notably, this law takes student performance into account when determining school effectiveness and educator accountability for schools receiving federal funding.  States are required to provide all students with highly qualified teachers and measure student performance by administering standardized tests.  Each year schools must achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) by having a higher percentage of students than the previous year score at least proficient on the state-issued tests.  No Child Left Behind was a good faith effort by lawmakers to measure and improve the effectiveness of schools.  However, many unintended consequences have arisen since the law's enactment.  Namely, it does not identify or give credit for progress made by a student and the teacher throughout the school year and instead focuses on arbitrary levels of proficiency that must be met regardless of students' previous levels of achievement.  Furthermore, it allows states to determine what standard they will be held to, which has resulted in some states lowering their benchmarks in order to more easily meet proficiency targets. Like you, I believe education is critical to the future success of our country and I want to ensure that our students are taught effectively and receive a high quality education. You may be interested to know that I am leading a group of moderate Democratic Senators in shaping education reform. Most recently, we unveiled a Statement of Principles, with the support of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and we are pushing for these goals to be included in the reform of No Child Left Behind. Specifically, these principles include turning around our lowest-performing schools, creating an accountability structure based on individual student progress, supporting teachers and leaders in high-need schools, allocating more resources to the schools with the most students in need and fostering innovation that will move us beyond the status quo. These are commonsense ideas that will move us closer to providing all students with a high-quality, well-rounded education.  As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I am actively involved in discussions on education reform and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues so that the children of North Carolina receive the education they deserve. Again, thank you for contacting my office. It is truly an honor to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate, and I hope you will not hesitate to contact me in the future should you have any further questions or concerns. Sincerely, Kay R. Hagan