WHEN FACTIONS at the opposite ends of the political spectrum join forces to promote an issue, one can't help but take notice. Here's one that will make you do a double-take: The Connecticut branch of the NAACP has chosen to be on the same side as the Department of Education in federal court defending a lawsuit filed by the state of Connecticut protesting the No Child Left Behind Act. This "odd couple" alliance will probably raise some eyebrows, but, more importantly, it should cause people to take a closer look at the merits of No Child Left Behind.
President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act was enacted in January 2002. The primary focus of the legislation was to ensure that all students in public schools are proficient in math and reading by 2014. This includes closing the achievement gaps between minorities and whites and low-income and middle- and upper-income students, measuring student performance with standardized tests and holding schools accountable for the results.
In August 2005, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court demanding the state be exempt from financing any of the NCLB. The state repeatedly asked the federal government for exclusion from certain NCLB requirements, such as annual testing, a chief component of the law, because the state didn't feel it was necessary. The suit claims that the NCLB is an illegal unfunded mandate, which state officials estimate will cost an additional $41.6 million in order to use the tests the state prefers, a number that the federal government questions.
On Jan. 30, the Connecticut NAACP, representing several minority students, petitioned the federal court to join the defendants, the federal government, in the lawsuit, on the grounds that the state is wasting taxpayer dollars in this litigation -- dollars that could be spent closing the achievement gaps the NCLB seeks to narrow. According to the Associated Press, Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile said, "The bottom line is, the concerns with No Child Left Behind shouldn't be used as an excuse to not provide equity in education to these children..."
This action on the part of the Connecticut NAACP demonstrates three things -- their genuine desire to close the achievement gap, the credibility of the NCLB and the detrimental effects of the state's actions.
It's important to note that when two groups that are often at odds over major issues ranging from judicial nominees to affirmative action actually agree on something, it has to have some standing. While the NAACP's national headquarters released a statement on Monday stating that the Connecticut NAACP "expresses no opinion on the merits" of NCLB and considers it "inadequately funded," it also stated its opposition to testing students "below the standard set by the NCLB" because children would "suffer from such a plan." Thus the NAACP is implying that the NCLB establishes a standard that is, on the whole, beneficial towards closing the achievement gap and improving performance of minority students, and that the NCLB requirements should be maintained.
While the NCLB is not a perfect mechanism for reducing the achievement gap and improving education overall, a degree of measurable progress has been accomplished. The Department of Education Web site includes statistics from the Connecticut Report Card: Between 2001 and 2004, the black-white achievement gap in fourth-grade reading dropped six percent, while the Hispanic-white achievement gap in reading and math decreased by six percent and three percent, respectively.
The state, on the other hand, is implicitly undermining the objective of the Connecticut NAACP and the NCLB through its defiance of the mandate and through fiscal irresponsibility in filing a lawsuit that will drain state resources. Furthermore, the state wants a break on some of the NCLB requirements it doesn't agree with while still collecting money from the Department of Education, something that is inequitable and undeserved.
Connecticut boasts a great record overall, but one of the worst for disadvantaged students. According to Reuters, the graduation rate in the state is the highest in the country, while at the same time it has the worst gap between low-income and middle- and upper-class students. The NCLB Act is not a flawless solution, but the state didn't implement anything nearly effective prior to 2002 that significantly improved the achievement gap.
President Bush just announced his budget on Monday for the fiscal year 2007. He calls for $24.4 billion to be devoted to NCLB, a 40 percent increase since 2001, when it was originally proposed. The NCLB, like any policy, always has room for improvement. But a policy that brought together the NAACP and the Bush administration shouldn't be dismissed so easily.
Whitney Blake's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at wblake@cavalierdaily.com.
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