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

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

Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Boosting Student and Staff Mental Health: What Schools Can Do
Join this free virtual event based on recent reporting on student and staff mental health challenges and how schools have responded.
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
Curriculum Webinar
Practical Methods for Integrating Computer Science into Core Curriculum
Dive into insights on integrating computer science into core curricula with expert tips and practical strategies to empower students at every grade level.
Content provided by Learning.com

EdWeek Top School Jobs

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

Read Next

Federal Will the Government Actually Shut Down This Time? What Educators Should Know
The federal government is once again on the verge of shutting down. Here's why educators should care, but shouldn't necessarily worry.
1 min read
Photo illustration of Capitol building and closed sign.
iStock
Federal Biden Admin. Warns Schools to Protect Students From Antisemitism, Islamophobia
The U.S. Department of Education released a "Dear Colleague" letter reminding schools of their obligation to address discrimination.
3 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview in his office at the U.S. Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Federal What Educators Should Know About Mike Johnson, New Speaker of the House
Johnson has supported restructuring federal education funding, as well as socially conservative policies that have become GOP priorities.
4 min read
House Speaker-elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Republicans eagerly elected Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Johnson has a supported a number of conservative Republican education priorities in his time in Congress.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal America's Children Don't Have a Federal Right to Education. Will That Ever Change?
An education scholar is launching a new research and advocacy institute to make the case for a federal right to education.
6 min read
Kimberly Robinson speaks at the kickoff event for the new Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 16, 2023.
Kimberly Robinson speaks at the kickoff event for the new Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 16, 2023.
Julia Davis, University of Virginia School of Law