No Child
Left Behind
Signed into law by President
Bush on January 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the most
significant change in federal regulation of public education over the past 30
years. It affects public schools in four basic areas: testing and
accountability, employment and hiring practices, choices for parents, and
miscellaneous policy requirements. As a result, NCLB has significant fiscal
implications for Alaskan schools and for Alaska’s Department of Education and
Early Development.
At the same time, however,
Congress proposes funding far below the levels promised in the NCLB
legislation. The Anchorage School Board requests the Alaska Legislature to urge
Congress to meet its fiscal obligations to this federal mandate and to work
with DEED and our schools during the Legislative session to ensure that
education funding for FY 2003 – FY 2004 adequately addresses the requirements
mandated in NCLB.
IDEA
Legislation
The Individual with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is scheduled for reauthorization with-in the
next year. There are two issues within the Act that impact all school districts
in Alaska and which the Alaska Legislature may wish to support through
resolution:
Full Funding of IDEA
When IDEA became law in 1975, the federal government promised to fund
40 percent of the cost of educating children with disabilities. Yet, Congress
has never paid more than 15 percent of the cost, or about one-third of its
obligation. School districts and local taxpayers make up the difference.
The Anchorage School Board
believes this is an under-funded mandate and that Congress needs to live up to
its original commitment to fund special education.
Revise Current IDEA Student
Discipline Policy
While recognizing the need to protect the rights of students with
disabilities, the Anchorage School Board supports revising IDEA to eliminate
mandatory discipline rules for students with disabilities that are different
from those for non-disabled students.
Currently, all students with
disabilities who are suspended or expelled, even for violent acts unrelated to
their disability, retain the right to a free and appropriate education in an
alternative setting. Non-disabled students do not have this right. The
Anchorage School Board objects to this federal mandate as to local discipline
policy.
