PrintMcElroy calls for changes in NCLB, compensation
The No Child Left Behind Act’s over-reliance on testing and its unfair and inaccurate accountability measures threaten to undermine the standards movement and much of what has been achieved in improving student achievement, said AFT president Edward J. McElroy.
In his keynote speech at the AFT QuEST (Quality Educational Standards in Teaching) conference in Washington, D.C., July 7-10, McElroy focused on the union’s growing concerns about NCLB and the AFT campaign to “get it right,” and on teacher pay, political activism and the AFL-CIO.
On NCLB, McElroy emphasized that while AFT members are overwhelmingly unhappy with the law, they don’t want it repealed and support its underlying goals, including raising standards for all children and focusing on helping disadvantaged children.
But good intentions have given way to unintended consequences, he told the group, including less emphasis on content areas outside literacy and math, and the derailing of proven reforms and programs. An overarching problem, he noted, is the inadequate federal funding of the law.
McElroy was particularly critical of how the law’s “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) requirements for schools are being implemented, noting that many schools have been labeled as “failing” even though their students actually have made considerable academic progress. The accountability measures are unfair and inaccurate ways of determining student and school performance, he charged, and “the entire standards movement is in jeopardy if the shortcomings of NCLB are left unaddressed.”
The AFT will “never back away from high standards and accountability, but it is important to get the regulations we place on teachers and schools right,” said McElroy. To that end, the AFT in May launched a media campaign (www.aft.org/topics/nclb/index.htm) as part of the union’s efforts to spur the administration, Congress and regulators to fix problems with the law.
McElroy also asked participants to become stronger union and political activists to influence policymakers and elected officials on issues that affect AFT members. “Don’t just carry your union card,” he urged. “Carry the union with you in all you do. Be a voice for the fact that unionism and professionalism go hand in hand.”
Improving teacher pay
McElroy called for greater attention to improving teacher salaries. “Teachers should not have to toil for a decade or longer to be paid the same amount a recent college graduate can make in another field,” he charged. He also addressed new teacher compensation proposals now gaining momentum in legislatures and at the bargaining table. While some show promise, many are simply variations on failed merit pay schemes, he noted, and most are intended to pay only a few people higher salaries rather than pay all teachers a professional wage.
That does not mean that the union rejects out of hand any idea for alternative compensation plans, he said. AFT affiliates nationwide already have implemented, or have tried to implement, pay plans that reward schoolwide improvement or individuals who earn National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification, teach in hard-to-staff schools, or demonstrate additional knowledge and skills in the classroom.
Any alternate compensation plan, however, must avoid the pitfalls of fuzzy criteria, favoritism, discrimination and quotas for who can qualify, McElroy warned. Rather, such plans must be bargained with the teachers’ representative and include agreed-upon standards and measures of professional practice as well as an adequately funded professional development component.
Spellings tackles tough questions on NCLB
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings faced a challenge during QuEST—defending some of the Bush administration’s unpopular policies, such as aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act, while still convincing the audience of her desire to continue working with the AFT on important issues when possible. Overall, in a relaxed and informative give-and-take discussion, Spellings largely met the challenge as she answered some tough questions from AFT president Edward J. McElroy that had been submitted by AFT members.
Spellings and McElroy agreed on the big issues, such as the need for higher standards and highly qualified teachers, but “the devil is in the details,” as McElroy put it, and that’s where the sharpest disagreements arose. Questions related to NCLB and particularly the goal of having all students reach “adequate yearly progress,” or AYP, dominated much of the session. Spellings acknowledged that the one aspect of the law she hears about most is AYP, especially the fact that some schools in which student achievement is rising are still failing to meet AYP goals. “Not meeting AYP is not, in my opinion, a failing school,” Spellings said. Schools designated as such need to understand what it means, what the school needs to do and where it can turn for more information. Spellings said the Education Department is looking at “growth models” that could do a better job of recognizing schools that are showing improvement while still falling short of the ultimate benchmarks.
Other questions dealt with the challenges of helping special education students and English language learners reach the same academic standards as the general education population. The sharpest disagreement between McElroy and Spellings arose over a question on the federal budget. While McElroy noted that budget proposals being considered by Congress would cut education funding—and reduce Title I money to about two-thirds of the nation’s school districts—Spellings countered that the Bush administration has increased overall education funding since taking office and is also facing tighter budgets in a time of war. “I don’t think [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld is running any bake sales,” McElroy quipped in response.
Another question criticized the lack of standards for charter school teachers and supplemental service providers for Title I students.
On the topic of high school reform, and whether small schools are the answer, Spellings admitted that “we don’t know exactly what the cure is” for high schools. She did say, in line with what the AFT has also urged, that a greater focus on literacy in secondary schools is one promising approach, but there’s no consensus that small schools themselves are the answer.
