MASSP News Center

FROM THE COMMITTEES ON EDUCATION AND LABOR 

Co-Sponsor the State and Local Flexibility Improvement Act

Dear Colleague,

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has granted states and local leaders an unprecedented level of control when it comes to educating their students. From designing and implementing their own testing systems to deciding how millions in federal education funds will be spent to raise student achievement, NCLB places a premium on state and local control. However, we can do more. During this year’s reauthorization of NCLB, we have the unique opportunity to build upon the law and provide even greater flexibility to states and local school districts.

In a joint statement released earlier this year, three prominent national organizations - the National Governor’s Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National Association of State Boards of Education - called for increased flexibility measures to “reinforce the role of states” in NCLB. The full statement can be found here: http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0704nclbstatement.pdf

Specifically, the joint statement noted that:

“States are positioned to build on the systems developed as part of NCLB and are eager to work with Congress and the Administration to reauthorize NCLB in a manner that recognizes the leading role of states and builds on states’ tremendous accomplishments. To this end, NCLB should be revised to include a renewed state-federal partnership that promotes innovation and provides flexibility, while holding education accountable, to ensure that the law is working for states, school districts, and most importantly, our nation’s students.”

With this in mind, this week I will introduce the State and Local Flexibility Improvement Act to improve NCLB by empowering states and local communities with even more flexibility than they currently enjoy under the law. While maintaining strong accountability standards, the State and Local Flexibility Improvement Act would:

*Give states and local school districts the freedom to target 100 percent (up from 50 percent under current law) of its non-Title I federal resources to best serve the needs of their students;
*Allow states to waive certain statutory or regulatory requirements under law, consolidate federal education programs, and use an alternative method for making allocations to local school districts instead of the current formula if their new proposal targets more funds effectively to those areas with high concentrations of low-income families;
*Measure individual student growth to determine whether schools and school districts meet Adequate Yearly Progress, including through well-designed growth models; and
*Lower the poverty threshold for schoolwide programs, which frees local schools to consolidate all federal funds to improve the quality of the entire school.

A “one-size-fits-all” approach to education cannot address the unique needs of our nation’s diverse school districts, and the State and Local Flexibility Improvement Act was crafted to reflect this important reality.
Sincerely,

Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA)
Senior Republican Member
Education and Labor Committee