Questions linger in draft bill.

[view:node_ad=5]As House Republican education leaders were celebrating the sixth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, they took time to press Democratic leaders to continue working with them to reauthorize of the law.  NCLB was signed in 2002, and it takes aim at bringing accountability and flexibility to federal education programs.

 

“The groundwork for a bipartisan reauthorization has been laid.  We have held hearings, listened to stakeholders, and consulted experts.  It is time now for Congress to act,” McKeon, the committee’s senior Republican, said in a prepared statement.  “Wholesale changes to our educational system will not take hold overnight, but the results since enactment of NCLB have been striking.  With test scores on the rise and achievement gaps shrinking, it is more important than ever that we maintain and strengthen the reforms that have made these results possible.”

 McKeon joined Mike Castle (R-DE), in expressing hope that bipartisan cooperation, which marked the crafting of the law in 2001 and 2002 and the implementation of the reforms ever since, will continue in the second session of the 110th Congress.

 “Although great progress has been made, the draft legislation in its current form has not met the standard established at the outset of this process – a bill that strengthens and refines NCLB while maintaining its core principles of accountability, flexibility, and parental choice.  Anything that falls short of that expectation would turn back the clock on education reform and hinder future efforts to ensure all children can learn and succeed.”

McKeon was in Santa Clarita on Tuesday evening, where he appeared live on KHTS AM-1220 with Afternoon Drive host Jason Endicott.

 

In that interview, McKeon took a moment to offer a glimpse into his hopes for 2008. “We’re working on a wilderness bill in the northern part of the district, and I would really like to see this problem with Cemex resolved…I would like to see the higher-ed reauthorization finished, I’m hopeful that can be done,” he said. “And I want to see Governor Mitt Romney elected as president of the United States.”