Why we’re here

It’s simple. No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), isn’t working. Over the past five years, we’re heard about the law’s flaws from increasingly frustrated classroom teachers and school staff in the trenches trying to help kids grow and achieve.

Now that NCLB is up for reauthorization, everyone with a stake in public education is pressing for changes to the law.

Are the changes going to make things better or worse? We’re curious – and that’s some of what we’ll be discussing in this blog.

But let’s be up front: we have our own ideas about what the next version of the law should do. That includes:

• Using more than test scores to measure student learning and school performance.
• Reducing class size to help students learn.
• Providing financial incentives to teachers who work in hard-to-staff schools.
• Calling teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards “highly qualified.”
• Providing flexibility for teachers of multiple subjects, including special education and rural educators.

It’s time to change NCLB. Let’s stand up and fight for students, educators, and public education!