May 26, 2011

CASB supports NSBA petition for regulatory relief

This week, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) launched a petition calling on the Secretary of Education and Congress to suspend a heavy load of regulations stemming from No Child Left Behind, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and other federal programs. CASB Executive Director Ken DeLay and CASB President Gary Northup have signed the petition and are asking local school board members and supporters to do the same.

CASB suggests local boards adopt the resolution at a board meeting and sign the online petition. The online petition can be signed by individual board members or by the board president. Local boards could also encourage local citizens to sign the petition online. Copies of your local resolution should also be shared with members of your congressional delegation.

The petition project targets school leaders nationwide and was organized jointly by NSBA and the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). The petition calls for Congress to encourage the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to remove federal regulatory and reporting requirements. The petition encourages members of Congress to act on behalf of local school districts and support the urgent need of allowing flexibility for school districts to use more financial resources in the classroom to advance student achievement rather than administrative tasks.

Duncan reinforced the need to rethink AYP recently, saying NCLB “is broken, and we need to fix it now.” As many as 82 percent of U.S. public schools could fail to make AYP in 2011-2012, according to Duncan. Nationally, 37 percent of schools did not make AYP this year, and in Colorado 38 percent fell short of AYP last year.

School budget cuts statewide totaled $160 million this year, and an AASA study released this month predicts teacher and staff cuts of 227,000 people nationwide. Schools need the flexibility to allocate additional resources to the classroom.

For more information, visit www.nsba.org.