No Child Left Behind is the latest incarnation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which created the Title I federal aid program aimed at reducing achievement gaps between rich and poor and among the races. Poorly drafted and championed by the George W. Bush administration, NCLB is built on a one-size-fits-all approach, meaning all schools and students must meet the same standards or be financially penalized. These sanctions have consistently been under-funded, to the tune of nearly $9 billion during the Bush administration, ironically leaving behind state schools and students that need help the most.

At a time when California’s state accountability measures – based on California’s strict and nationally respected academic standards – continue to show consistent improvement in student achievement, more and more schools in California are being labeled as failures under NCLB. Of California’s 9,917 public schools, 4,859 (49%) failed to meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress under ESEA/NCLB in 2009. Of the 6,066 California schools receiving Title I funding, 2,796 (46.1%) are in Program Improvement (PI) under the federal program, which mandates significant and costly changes to schools that districts cannot afford in this time of severe budget cuts.

 Read NEA's letter to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
 Pros and Cons of the Harkin-Enzi ESEA reauthorization bill 
 Read a summary of the reauthorization proposal 
 Read the complete draft reauthorization proposal