The AFT has several concerns with recommendations released Feb. 13 by the Aspen Institute's Commission on No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Topping the list of concerns is the commission's recommendation to require every teacher to be deemed a "highly qualified effective teacher" (HQET) based on student test scores. AFT president Edward J. McElroy in a statement calls that proposal "a nonstarter" for the committees in Congress that will deal with NCLB reauthorization.

"If we have learned anything in the years since NCLB was enacted, it is that teachers and paraprofessionals working in classrooms are the ones who know best what works and what does not," McElroy says. "Our members have had five years of experience with NCLB, and they know now that the law’s school accountability mechanism, the 'adequate yearly progress' (AYP) formula, is not a useful tool in distinguishing between good schools and schools in need of help." The Aspen proposal appears to be another "fundamentally flawed, ideology-driven, top-down" plan that won't work.

The AFT is troubled by several of the report's other recommendations for NCLB, McElroy says, including its failure to call for more support for struggling schools and its lack of a comprehensive fix for AYP. He also points out that the commission's report is just one set of recommendations that will be considered as Congress begins the NCLB reauthorization process. The complete Aspen Institute report is available online.

In addition, the AFT has developed its own set of recommendations, which resulted from town hall meetings with members and careful deliberations with the leaders of AFT locals. "Such recommendations are a starting point for a discussion in which AFT leaders and members intend to be active and vocal participants," McElroy says. [Dan Gursky, AFT press release, Beth Antunez]

February 13, 2007