69´«Ă˝

Federal

More Parental Power in Revised NCLB Urged

By David J. Hoff — April 03, 2007 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

The No Child Left Behind Act has expanded parents’ power over their children’s education and given them more information about student achievement than ever before. But Congress ought to take further steps to promote parental involvement when it reauthorizes the 5-year-old law, parent activists told a Senate panel last week.

The federal law should guarantee funding for parent resource centers, authorize schools to spend federal money to hire family-service coordinators, and give states the power to enforce the parental-involvement sections of the education law, the advocates told the Senate health, education, labor, and pensions committee on March 28.

“69´«Ă˝ are not taking these provisions seriously enough,” Wendy D. Puriefoy, the president of the Public Education Network, said of the law. “Significant changes are needed.”

Under the NCLB law, districts are required to involve parents when they are writing their plans to comply with Title I and other programs in the law. They also must develop a parental-involvement policy and hold regular meetings with parents explaining what the district is doing to meet the law’s achievement goals for students in reading and mathematics.

Although parental advocates considered those requirements to be significant improvements over previous versions of the law authorizing the Title I compensatory education program, they suggested that Congress should do more.

In addition to Ms. Puriefoy’s request for states to be given the power to ensure districts are fully complying with the parental-involvement measures, other experts suggested that portions of the $12.7 billion Title I program be set aside to pay for services to help parents.

Parents’ Role

69´«Ă˝ should be able to use Title I aid to hire a person to identify students who need health and social services and work with outside agencies to ensure such services are provided, Daniel J. Cardinali, the president of Communities in 69´«Ă˝, an Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit group that helps schools provide services schools need, told the committee.

If schools fail to meet their student-achievement goals for adequate yearly progress under the NCLB law, they should be required to explain how they would address the welfare and health needs of their students as part of their plans to improve student achievement, Mr. Cardinali said.

Interventions such as rigorous curricula and highly qualified teachers “will not be able to be effective if the basic social services for children are not met,” he said.

69´«Ă˝ also should be required to write plans that explain the educational interventions they will provide for every child, said Kathy Patenaude, the president of the Rhode Island PTA.

Teachers should review plans with parents regularly and the meetings should be “ongoing, meaningful, and two-way,” Ms. Patenaude said.

In a set of recommendations released before the hearing, the National PTA urged Congress to set aside a portion of Title I’s annual appropriation to finance parental information and resource centers. The statewide nonprofit organizations currently receive $39.6 million appropriated in their own line item in the budget for the federal Department of Education.

By setting aside a portion of Title I money, the parental centers would have a steady funding stream and wouldn’t have to lobby annually for an appropriation, the National PTA says.

Although few senators attended the hearing, several suggested that they would support expanding parental involvement when they reauthorize the NCLB law. Congress is scheduled to renew the law this year, but many observers expect lawmakers will postpone action, perhaps until 2009.

“We must … explore new and innovate strategies to engage parents and communities in helping kids succeed in school,” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a statement. Sen. Kennedy, the education committee chairman, did not attend the hearing.

A version of this article appeared in the April 04, 2007 edition of Education Week as More Parental Power in Revised NCLB Urged

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Federal Opinion What's Really at Stake for Education in This Election?
What a Harris or Trump presidential victory might mean for federal education policy, according to Rick Hess.
5 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Federal Trump's K-12 Record in His First Term Offers a Blueprint for What Could Be Next
In his first term, Trump sought to significantly expand school choice, slash K-12 spending, and tear down the U.S. Department of Education.
11 min read
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos listens at left as President Donald Trump speaks during a round table discussion at Saint Andrew Catholic School on March 3, 2017, in Orlando, Fla.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos listens at left as President Donald Trump speaks during a round table discussion at Saint Andrew Catholic School on March 3, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. The education policies Trump pursued in his first term offer clues for what a second Trump term would look like for K-12 schools.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal From Our Research Center How Educators Say They'll Vote in the 2024 Election
Educators' feelings on Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump vary by age and the communities where they work.
4 min read
Jacob Lewis, 3, waits at a privacy booth as his grandfather, Robert Schroyer, fills out his ballot while voting at Sabillasville Elementary School, Nov. 8, 2022, in Sabillasville, Md.
Jacob Lewis, 3, waits at a privacy booth as his grandfather, Robert Schroyer, fills out his ballot while voting at Sabillasville Elementary School, Nov. 8, 2022, in Sabillasville, Md.
Julio Cortez/AP
Federal Q&A Oklahoma State Chief Ryan Walters: 'Trump's Won the Argument on Education'
The state schools chief's name comes up as Republicans discuss who could become education secretary in a second Trump administration.
8 min read
Ryan Walters, then-Republican candidate for Oklahoma State Superintendent, speaks at a rally, Nov. 1, 2022, in Oklahoma City.
Ryan Walters speaks at a rally on Nov. 1, 2022, in Oklahoma City as a candidate for state superintendent of public instruction. He won the race and has built a national profile for governing in the MAGA mold.
Sue Ogrocki/AP