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SJM106.........................................................by EDUCATION
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT - Stating findings of the Legislature and urging
Congress to support amendments to the No Child Left Behind Act.
02/14 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/15 Rpt prt - to Educ
03/02 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
03/03 10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Goedde
Title apvd - to House
03/04 House intro - 1st rdg - to Educ
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature First Regular Session - 2005
IN THE SENATE
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 106
BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
3 TIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL
4 DELEGATION REPRESENTING THE STATE OF IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED
5 STATES.
6 We, your Memorialists, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
7 State of Idaho assembled in the First Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth
8 Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
9 WHEREAS, the goal of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is to move all
10 students to proficiency in reading, language and mathematics by 2014; and
11 WHEREAS, that goal can best be achieved by giving states flexibility to
12 capitalize on their unique resources and populations; and
13 WHEREAS, Idaho has led the nation in school improvement reform by passage
14 of the Idaho Reading Initiative, the creation of academic standards, the
15 alignment of Idaho public school curricula, and the creation of the Idaho
16 Standards Achievement Test (ISAT); and
17 WHEREAS, the NCLB provides that all Idaho schools receiving federal Title
18 One funding must meet 41 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) criteria or be placed
19 in "needs improvement" status; and
20 WHEREAS, Idaho schools have found that when calculating AYP, due to NCLB
21 reporting requirements, students are routinely identified in more than one
22 group creating an overrepresentation of students in need of improvement; and
23 WHEREAS, Idaho schools have found that the "N" size for a group within a
24 school may need to be increased to better align with school enrollments; and
25 WHEREAS, Idaho believes that the basic AYP measurement system should be
26 expanded to provide for the use of student growth scores; and
27 WHEREAS, flexibility in the NCLB participation rate for testing is needed
28 to ensure fairness in accountability by providing exemptions for students with
29 unusual patterns of attendance such as long-term illness, medical conditions,
30 incarceration and detention; and
31 WHEREAS, Idaho is required to comply with the requirements of the Individ-
32 uals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as it relates to a student's IEP
33 as well as the requirements of the NCLB as they relate to AYP, which in many
34 cases are incongruent; and
35 WHEREAS, supplemental services and choice options would be more effective
36 and cost-efficient if targeted to those students who require intervention; and
37 WHEREAS, Idaho believes it is more appropriate to offer students supple-
38 mental services prior to instituting public school choice options; and
39 WHEREAS, sanctions should only be imposed on those schools in which AYP
40 has not been met by the same group in the same content area for two or more
41 consecutive years; and
42 WHEREAS, many teachers who practice in rural settings teach multiple sub-
43 ject areas which makes the application of federal NCLB criteria unrealistic;
44 therefore, states should be the prime determiner of Highly Qualified Teacher
2
1 (HQT) status; and
2 WHEREAS, states should have the sole authority to determine the number of
3 severely, emotionally and profoundly disabled students who should be exempt
4 from NCLB requirements. At a minimum, increasing the allowable exemption from
5 1% to 2% would provide more flexibility; and
6 WHEREAS, in areas where NCLB funding is not adequately provided, the NCLB
7 should be reduced commensurately.
8 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session
9 of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Representa-
10 tives concurring therein, that we urge Congress to support amendments to the
11 No Child Left Behind Act that will address the aforementioned.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate be, and she is
13 hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to President
14 George W. Bush, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
15 Representatives of Congress, and the congressional delegation representing the
16 State of Idaho in the Congress of the United States.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 15001
A Joint Memorial to the President of the United States, to the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in
Congress assembled, and to the Congressional delegation
representing the state of Idaho in the Congress of the United
States addressing changes in No Child Left Behind.
FISCAL NOTE
None
Contact
Name: Sen. John Goedde
Phone: 332-1330
Sen. Gary Schroeder
332-1323
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE SJM 106