69ý

Federal

New Coalition to Lobby for Changes in NCLB’s Provisions on Tutoring

By David J. Hoff — May 22, 2007 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Civil rights activists and school choice advocates have formed a new coalition to lobby for expanded access to and participation in tutoring services available under the No Child Left Behind Act.

“No Child Left Behind is a great tool, and we need it fixed,” Juan Enrique Granados, a parent activist in Dallas, said about the federal law’s provision on supplementary educational services, or SES, at a Capitol Hill event held last week to announce the creation of the coalition. “We have to make sure that SES is there for parents because we need it.”

Mr. Granados and others in the Coalition for Access to Educational Resources say that the NCLB law, which is due for reauthorization this year, needs to be changed to ensure that school districts do everything possible to provide tutoring for eligible students when their schools fail to make student-achievement goals for three consecutive years.

The coalition is supporting a bill that would require districts to document how they informed parents about the availability of the tutoring and other services and would require districts to spend at least 20 percent of their money from the $12.7 billion Title I program on SES. It also would make students eligible for such services if their school did not make adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years.

The 5-year-old school improvement law currently allows districts to spend that proportion, but it doesn’t give them any incentive to do so, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., the bill’s sponsor, said at the May 16 event.

Parent Outreach

Parents don’t know the supplemental services are available because districts don’t widely advertise them, and they make it difficult for parents to enroll, said Rep. McKeon, who is the ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee.

See Also

He said he hopes his proposal will be included in the House bill to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind law. The House education committee may take up an NCLB bill this summer, with the goal of having the House pass it by the end of the year.

By setting aside money for SES programs and forcing districts to report on their parent outreach, the proposal would spur growth in the number of students using such services, Rep. McKeon and members of the coalition predicted.

About 19 percent of students eligible for SES used those services in the 2004-05 school year, according to a Government Accountability Office study last year. (“House Panel Studies Ways to Boost Tutoring Under NCLB,” Sept. 27, 2006.)

“We are on the defensive in many, many ways,” said Dianne M. Piché, the executive director of the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, a Washington advocacy group that supports the NCLB law and is a member of the new coalition.

Lobbyists for school groups “are coming up here [to Congress] and arguing that the parents’ rights in the law are punishments and sanctions” on schools, Ms. Piché said.

A version of this article appeared in the May 23, 2007 edition of Education Week as New Coalition to Lobby For Changes in NCLB’s Provisions on Tutoring

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