House members aren鈥檛 making progress on their pledge to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act this year, according to a leading Republican lawmaker.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a climate where it doesn鈥檛 look very favorable to get the reauthorization done,鈥� Rep. Howard P. 鈥淏uck鈥� McKeon, R-Calif., told a meeting of the Education Industry Association last week.
Rep. McKeon, who is the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, said he hasn鈥檛 met with Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the committee鈥檚 chairman, to discuss the NCLB law since October.
In that meeting, Rep. McKeon said, the two still hadn鈥檛 agreed on more than a dozen significant issues, such as the measures to be used for school accountability and how students qualify for tutoring under the law.
Rep. Miller said earlier this year that he would work to get the NCLB law reauthorized this spring. (鈥淜ey Democrats Join President in Seeking to Revive NCLB Renewal,鈥� Feb. 6, 2008.)
But the House education committee hasn鈥檛 taken any public action toward meeting that goal.
Senate aides are working to draft a NCLB bill for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to consider this month.
Even if the Senate were to pass a bill, Rep. McKeon said, he doubts the House would be able to follow.
Get the most recent news on NCLB reauthorization from , written by Education Week staffer David Hoff.
With Democrats in control of Congress but divided about the extent of changes needed in the NCLB law, Mr. McKeon said in an interview that any NCLB bill would need Republican support. But so far, he said, Rep. Miller hasn鈥檛 shown he is willing to compromise with his Republican counterpart or that party鈥檚 leaders.
鈥淚t looks like we鈥檙e waiting for a new president and a new Congress鈥� to reauthorize the law, Rep. McKeon said on Feb. 27 to EIA members, who represent businesses that provide tutoring under the NCLB law and other education services.
For more stories on this topic see No Child Left Behind and our Federal news page.
